Temperance
by theparanoidpanther
Summary: Temperance; one of four cardinal virtues alongside Justice, Courage and Knowledge. Defined not by what a person can do, but what they willingly decide not to do for the good of themselves and others. But how could a Soul based in self-restraint and balance possibly face up against a Soul of pure, unfiltered Determination? (Reader-Insert) (Summary Updated 28/5)
1. Context

A Quick Note:

There will be no extreme shipping between the characters, _especially_ with the Reader. I only recognize relationships that are stated outright by the source material. However, that isn't to say that certain characters will not act close. By all means, if you want to interpret a platonic relationship as a romantic one and vice versa- go ahead, it is entirely your choice. There will be blood and other distresses in this fic, though I wouldn't call it hardcore gore.

All feedback is appreciated!

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Despite everything, it was quiet.

At that very moment, the King of all Monsters was fighting the Fallen Human at the barrier. The battle could only end in one of two ways; the first being that King Asgore would kill the child and finally collect the seventh and final human Soul, freeing all the monsters from the underground. The second option was that the young human would emerge victorious instead and use the brief power of Asgore's own Soul to escape alone.

Flowey personally believed the second option to be more likely.

The faint heat of fire magic and the vibrations of both heavy and light footfalls just barely reached the tiny flower pellet that lurked beneath them. No doubt they were locked in a furious dance of fire, magic and blades. They had no idea what awaited them. Those _idiots_.

As the battle waged on, Flowey smiled to himself. It wouldn't matter if ( _when_ ) the kid won. As soon as the fight ended he would pop out of the ground and seize the six collected Souls for himself, crushing the little human's hopes and dreams of escaping to the outside world.

There was a certain giddiness he felt at the thought of his plan... Or, at least, it was something that resembled giddiness. He was long past the point of remembering what 'emotions' supposedly felt like. Giddiness was a type of happy excitement, right? What a stupid word to use for something so specific. Still, it made him twitch in the earth as he waited for his chance to ruin everything.

The look on the kid's face... would it be shock? Anger? Fear? Or maybe...

Maybe there would be nothing but cold, uncaring Determination.

It had been the best twist that Flowey had seen in a long time. After so many resets of his own the Underground just _bored_ him. That was why he waited in the Ruins for so long. If he killed the next human that fell down before anyone else had the chance, he could take their Soul for his own. He would then have slipped past Asgore, absorbed the six other Souls that the old man had hidden and broken the barrier himself. Finally, Flowey would be free of the boring confines of the Underground and the most powerful monst- hmm, entity(?) in existence. A god-like being for sure. He was going to teach the whole world the meaning of 'Kill or Be Killed'.

At least, that was how he'd planned it in his head. If that stupid, _useless_ monster woman hadn't showed up and stopped him...! Flowey had been so bitter that he decided to let the fallen child suffer instead. They would learn how miserable life could be just by experiencing it themselves. If one of the monsters killed them along the way he would just quickly pop up and snag their Soul before anyone could stop him. He had his Savestates after all. As long as he could Reset he could always be secure in the knowledge that he would get whatever he wanted eventually. What was the harm of watching things unfold a little further before ending it all?

At first it had been incredibly boring. The kid was completely pathetic by all standards. They spared all the monsters they came across, avoided conflict where they could and completely disregarded his words about the unforgiving nature of the world. He'd almost snapped and killed them to take their Soul and skip all of their _tedious_ little kindnesses. But then everything changed.

As soon as the child entered Waterfall, the underground had been coated with a fine layer of dust. It was surprising to say the least. One moment they were a harmless brat, walking around and 'befriending' everyone and the next... they were slaughtering everything. Even the head of the Royal Guard- that loud blue clod with the spears- couldn't stand up to them and was torn to pieces with an efficiency that left even Flowey floored.

They were ruthless, cutting down everything in their path as though it was their sworn duty. There was no way that Flowey was going to interfere with _that_. It was just too good to stop.

As he had watched everything, Flowey felt... something. And it had nothing to do with his smugness over the fact that the kid had finally snapped and followed his advice of Kill or Be Killed... There was a faint sense of deja vu. He'd struggled with it for a long time, trying to pin down what it was. But after watching the child for so long, watching them tear apart the monsters with a smile and rosy cheeks, watching as they placed the locket so carefully around their neck and cradled the knife like an old treasure...

It had to be true. He wanted it to be true more than anything.

That was why it was so important for him to get the timing just right. His plans had changed. If the human child got their hands on Asgore's soul, Flowey would be left behind with all the other miserable monsters. He was going to make sure that they wouldn't leave the underground without him. They belonged together. There was no one else in the whole world that he could count on to understand him.

There was a final rumble as the fighting ceased. With a speed that he almost thought beyond him, Flowey rocketed up to the surface. Asgore knelt in front of him, talking solemnly to the child, unaware of the real threat at his back. The barrier hummed rhythmically as faint rays of light tried and very nearly failed to shine through. The seven Soul canisters, one empty and six filled, were laid out for the taking.

As Asgore muttered his final words, begging the child to take his Soul to pass the barrier and leave his people be, Flowey barely restrained a cruel snicker. He watched with a proud smile on his face as the kid buried the knife to the hilt inside the King's body. It was finally time.

As the worthless old man turned to dust, Flowey prepared his 'friendliness pellets'. A single white light shone out from the monster's collapsing form. The King's Soul. It was all that the little human needed in order to cross the barrier and abandon everyone. There was _no way_ that Flowey was going to let them have it. He'd shatter it into tiny pieces and take the collected Souls. The child had to stay. Here. _With him_. Even if it meant that neither of them could ever get out of the Underground. Even if it meant that the timeline would be Reset again and again. They were going to be together, just like old times. _Forever_. Just him and Cha-

A splitting pain stopped Flowey from finishing that thought.

In a brief moment of confusion he tried to look around but quickly found it was impossible. A small whimper made its way unbidden out of his mouth as he tried to figure out what had just occurred. But he couldn't think. Something was wrong.

The child walked up to him, the shaking white Soul of the former Boss Monster quietly fracturing in their palm. They stared down at him with empty red eyes and a smile that held no kindness. It occurred to Flowey that there was something missing. He'd been watching the kid since the Ruins, he ought to know if anything was odd about them, right?

Struggling, he tried to pinpoint what was off. They had their striped shirt, rosy cheeks, heart-shaped locket, dust-covered knife- knife? No. They didn't have their knife in their hand. So where was the knife? Within his limited view, Flowey couldn't see the rusty knife anywhere. If only he could turn his head, he might be able to see if they had dropped it. But somehow he was pinned in place.

As he wondered what could have happened to the treasured weapon his head throbbed. It was so hard to think. Why couldn't he focus?

Smiling, the child knelt down in front of him. Unable to look away, Flowey simply stared back with wide eyes.

"... Ch- Cha...ra?"

There was a sharp _shing_ as the child retrieved their blade from Flowey's trembling face. Suddenly free, Flowey flopped forward and shivered violently. The splitting pain raced through his small body and turned his mind completely white. Even with his eyes wide open he couldn't see. This wasn't how things were supposed to go.

Again and again the knife was brought down onto his small form.

Despite being a flower... it somehow hurt.

For the first time in what seemed like like forever, Flowey was almost certain that what he felt right then was pure, instinctual _fear_. He reached out to his Savestates. It didn't matter which one he picked, he just wanted to get to one that wasn't where he was right then. Heck, he'd Reset right back to the beginning of the Ruins if he had to. He just wanted the pain to stop. He didn't want to die. The silence and isolation of death was the only thing that still unnerved him.

But even as he desperately reached out, he remembered how _they_ had always been so much stronger than him. They prevented him from reaching to his Savestates, blocking his path and overpowering his ability to Reset. Damnit! If only he'd absorbed the human Souls _before_ attempting to shatter Asgore's. He could have been a powerful monstrosity already. He could have beaten them! But now he was being blocked by the power of the kid's own ability to Save.

They were supposed to be best friends, together forever... yet here he was, being cut into pieces so small that he might as well be considered pulp. All the Determination that had been injected into him still couldn't outweigh that of his sibling. He was simply _weaker_ than they were.

Like a fool, Flowey had forgotten his mantra of Kill or Be Killed could also apply to himself.

He remained conscious just long enough to watch the smiling child stand and walk towards the barrier. After that... there was nothing.


	2. Introducting an Eighth Soul

The evening air was chilling; you should have brought something warmer to wear.

Your flashlight shone dimly through the forest that covered the mountainside. All around you, similarly freezing people shivered as they called out into the night, hoping that their missing friends and loved ones might suddenly show themselves. Your breath created soft clouds of warmth as you scanned the area. The safe, marked paths had ended a few kilometers back and the underbrush was clawing uncomfortably at your pants. You wondered how much further you would be able to go before your group decided to call it quits.

It was a rare day that anyone would organise an independent search party anywhere near Mount Ebott, but recently so many people had been disappearing that nothing could stop small, determined groups like yours from giving it a go. Normally it would be a job for the police. The mountain was said to be dangerous; urban legends went so far as to say that it was haunted by strange creatures. People would sometimes vanish around the area, either because they didn't know any better or they knew all too well. It was a place that was usually avoided, especially at dusk. Being so far up the mountain wasn't particularly legal without formal permission, but none of you felt you had a choice.

Things were getting out of hand. Sure, legends of disappearances were one thing, but having it happen to people who had no reason to do so and in such quantities... It was unsettling. One day you'd be talking to a friend, a co-worker, maybe a family member, and the next day they were gone. No notes left behind, no behavioural signs to explain it; all different people from all different backgrounds just- gone. The only real lead that anyone had was that all the missing people had last been seen around the area of...

Well, take a guess.

That wasn't to say that the police weren't trying. They had their own investigations of the bus routes and freeways, as well as aerial surveillance of the mountain and such. But it just wasn't _enough_. The plant life was too overgrown for helicopters to be of any real use and the police search parties never went ventured any further up than their paperwork allowed. There was simply too much ground to cover and not enough personnel on the force. Besides, venturing anywhere up beyond the faint trails around the mountain was difficult to organise and monitor. You'd have to be a fool to try it.

So that was why you were out now, nose freezing and voice getting kinda raw; because you were too stubborn to let the situation be.

There'd been a few people you'd known who had disappeared without a trace. Good, kind people that you hadn't really been close to yourself, but had been friends to your friends. How could you say no to volunteering? You'd seen the heartbroken looks on the faces of the affected, observed with a quiet nervousness as the city became more paranoid and the voids left behind by the missing persons became more obvious in day-to-day life. If you could find even one clue as to what had happened to them- one scrap of hope- then this would all be worth it.

But things were looking grim. Soon it would be too dark to continue safely and the forest was getting so thick that only wild animals and small children would be able to navigate any further.

 _Thinking about this kind of stuff isn't helpful to anyone._ You thought bitterly as you rubbed your cold nose.

Sighing, you began to turn back.

Admittedly your group wasn't very well organised. Fanning out to cover more ground had been a great idea when you were all close to the base of the mountain, but as you hiked upwards it was harder to keep an eye on each other. You'd hate to come all the way up here to try and find some of the missing people only to end up expanding the list instead.

Squinting, you tried to pinpoint the wavering torch lights of the other volunteers. It was hard to do with so many leaves and branches constantly in your face. The sound of grass, bushes and tree tops being whipped about by the frozen wind filled your ears. It was... unusually silent. Had you really been trapped in your thoughts that long? You could have sworn that it was only a moment ago that others were calling out into the wilderness alongside you.

Carefully, you maneuvered your way along the mountain. You called out several times, straining to hear a response. But... you couldn't hear the voices of your party at all.

Damn, you really must've gotten lost yourself. How terribly ironic.

Oh well, what's done is done, they say. You were responsible enough to handle yourself. Finding your way off a mountain was easy; all you had to do was head downwards. Eventually you would reach the safety of the paths and easily circle around to the meeting spot, right? Even if it the mountain you were descending was a cold, possibly haunted one which was famous for spiriting people away _long_ before the recent disappearances.

… You held your flashlight tighter.

There was no phone service up on the mountainside, which left you feeling guilty in advance for the worry that you would undoubtedly be causing your group. As you set off you began practicing the perfect way to apologise. You'd have to say sorry for wandering off, not paying attention, possibly backing out on the search early (if the party was still on the mountain)- _ugh_ , it was a long list. But there was no way you were going to remain alone on that giant, creepy dirt pile.

Your thoughts were interrupted by a distant sound. It was so quiet that you thought it might have been a trick of the wind or even your imagination. Straining to hear past the whipping of the grass and the leaves, you stood completely still.

There were crickets chirping in the dry bushes. A constant whisper was brought in by the soft, yet bitterly cold wind that pushed past you. Even the flashlight in your hand gave an almost inaudible hum as its batteries became weaker with every passing moment.

Perhaps it had been your imagination after all. For some reason you had thought you'd heard footsteps and a tiny giggle. Maybe the mountain really was getting to-

A shaky sob cut through the night air.

 _Oh my god, I hope that's not a ghost._

You shook your irrational thoughts away. Just because you were on a spooky mountain where centuries worth of people were possibly killed or committed suicide didn't mean that the child-like sound you heard was a ghost. I-it could be one of the missing people you were looking for! … Right?

During your moment of pause another sob echoed over the wind. A tiny voice, stuttering and obviously in poor condition, called out; "H...ello? Pl...ease! Some-some...one, pl...ease…"

"Hello! I can hear you! Don't worry, I'm coming to help!"

The small cry for help hit you right in the heart. Now was not the time to be comparing your situation to a cliche horror movie! Real people's lives were possibly at stake! If you ran down the mountain screaming because of 'ghosts' and it ended up being a _real_ person in need of _real_ medical attention… Well, you wouldn't be able to live with yourself.

You quickly jogged through the woods in the direction you had heard the voice, careful to keep a good eye on your footing as you searched the area. The thought of someone being in trouble reminded you exactly why you had volunteered for the search party in the first place. There were people out there who needed help. People who had their families grieving over them and friends feeling lost and useless due to their absence. Right now, you were the only person available who could potentially save them.

Even though your throat was getting dry you kept yelling out periodically, trying to get the crying person's attention. You asked them to call back but they only continued to sob quietly. Despite the faint paranoia in your head, your heart reached out to them. They sounded so young.

As soon as you reached the area where you were certain the sounds were coming from, everything became deadly silent

"Hello? Are you still there? Say something, please!"

But there was no response. Once again, you were left in the silence and the dark.

However, you couldn't give up and go back down the mountain just yet. You knew you hadn't been imagining that crying child. Somewhere up here was a kid in distress and by god _you were going to help them_.

You squeezed yourself through the gaps in trees and shuffled around bushes. There had to be something out here that could show you where the crying had been coming from. Footprints in the dirt? A lost item? A broken stick or two? _Anything_.

The trees and twigs scratched you through your thin jumper. Their persistent little claws stung you and you had to back off several times just to find a safer way forward. But all you were rewarded with was a whole lot of nothing.

At least, until you stumbled across a hole of nothing.

A cave awning nearly twice your size and more than thrice as wide stood before you. Stalagmites and stalactites decorated the interior. A faint dripping sound could be heard from the depths. As you took a step closer a cold, yet stale, gust of wind could be felt gently pushing its way out from the mountain depths. You shivered slightly despite the wind from inside managing to be a few degrees warmer than it was outside. In the dark of the quickly encroaching night the cave was a pretty ominous sight.

A small sob echoed off of the stone walls exactly like the ones you had heard before. You felt your body lock up. It had been much clearer this time (and not echo-y enough to match up with your horror media experiences). There really _was_ a living person still lost on the mountain. You actually found one! But... did you really want to be traversing a pitch-black cave all alone?

Again you cursed yourself for getting separated from the group. Mount Ebott was not the kind of place you ever wanted to be lost in. Not to mention that having the experience of several older volunteers (as well as their basic equipment and first aid training) would have made you much less nervous about rescuing a missing person. What if they were injured, poisoned or sick? Would you really be able to handle it on your own?

Before you could decide on your next step a strained voice echoed towards you, "H... hel...p. Pl... ease?"

Throwing caution to the wind you immediately made your way into the mouth of the cave. Whoever was in there needed help and they needed it _now_. Even if it turned out that you didn't have the experience to help the lost person properly… well, you could at least try. If worse came to worst you could calm them and race back to your group to tell them the cave's location. Or maybe you could carry them, they did sound like a small child after all.

Hidden in the depths of the cave was a sudden steep drop. It had a circumference of at least a couple of metres and probably led straight down into some deeper section of the mountain. Flecks of moonlight shone down from a hole in the ceiling and illuminated the edges of the pit but failed to reveal anything deeper. Peering over the edge, your sputtering flashlight completely failed to pierce the darkness below. You couldn't bring yourself to stand too close, just in case.

What if the crying person had fallen down there? Maybe that had been why you'd heard them in the forest one minute and in the cave the next. You hadn't heard a scream, but that didn't make it impossible. Worse, maybe the person had been trapped down there the entire time and their cries had echoed up to you above-ground. If the hole in the ceiling was any indication, the cave could be connected to various sinkholes and pits. You might have walked past some of them in your search.

You bit your lip. The hole was way too deep; you didn't have the equipment to help a person out of such a dangerous spot nor the ability to treat any severe injuries a fall like that might cause.

Still, you had come this far.

"Hello? Are you down there?" You called, praying that the person would answer and be alright.

For a long time there was no response and you circled the pit, trying to get a better vantage point. If you got too close there was no doubt that the thick dirt would fall away under your weight. Not to mention the entire area was a tripping hazard with stubborn vines and rocks sticking out like they were just inviting your feet to catch on them. The dripping echoed away in the distance, reminding you also that good portions of the ground consisted of slippery and no doubt sharp stone beneath the protective soles of your shoes. Damn those stalactites.

You nervously let out a breath through clenched teeth. It came out as a hissing fog in the cold air as you continued to test the stability of the ground with the tips of your shoes. Finding an area that you deemed safe enough, you inched forward and tilted your light downwards. It seemed like there might have been something at the bottom, but the night and the cave were both so dark you could barely tell.

You began to doubt your thinking. Was it really possible to survive a fall that far? Maybe it would be better ( _safer_ ) to search the rest of the cave first.

Just as you were about to back up again you heard a giggle from behind you.

Pain shot up your leg and you let out a scream, whipping around in an unthinking motion. As your arm swung back the flashlight in your hand connected with something hard. There was an angry cry, but you were in too much of a panic to see what it was. Your leg gave out underneath you as you were halfway through your turn, causing you to slip backwards across and over the lip of the pit. Your own terrified shout echoed back at you through the cave, filling your ears and drowning out any other fearful sounds you might have made.

The last thing you saw as you fell down was a victorious smile and vengeful red eyes.


	3. Waking in Ruins

You drifted in and out of consciousness for a long time. Sometimes the world was dull enough that you couldn't feel anything, but others were far more cruel. An extreme pain spread along your nerves whenever your mind dared to return, causing you to hiss and whimper until the darkness claimed you again. You couldn't manage to properly scream or cry whenever you woke because you were always too tired. It simply felt like there wasn't enough air in your lungs. You never really had the time to think about what was going on in these short periods of agony, you only knew that you were very badly hurt and needed help.

There were quiet murmurs around you and you groggily realised that you were not alone. Something moved and what felt like white hot fire shot up your leg, causing you to cry out and shake. It hurt so much that you just wanted to curl up into a ball to get away from it, but even your own movements were torture and you just ended up miserably gasping for breath with your eyes squeezed shut. Your throat was too cracked and dry to scream a second time as you whimpered and felt sweat gather on your face.

Someone placed something large and warm against your skin. You were almost certain it was a fuzzy blanket of some sort. It pushed the sticky patches of your hair gently out of your face and rocked your head softly. It was comforting and you eventually managed to calm yourself, trying and failing to mutter out something that might have resembled a thank you.

You felt yourself being lifted upwards as you silently blacked out again.

...

...

It was horrific when you finally woke up. Pain throbbed through your body starting from your lower leg and you quietly wheezed out a miserable breath. This time was different from the others. You just knew you were going to remain conscious and you cursed your miserable existence. Laying still in an attempt to even out your breathing, you worked on opening your eyes.

The roof above you was dim and blurry as you continued to squint and blink at it. For a moment you dully wondered who had built a roof over the hole you'd fell down before you began to remember faint feelings and movements from the times you'd almost woken up.

Obviously someone had moved you to a safer (and softer) place. Wherever you were it didn't smell like a hospital, which meant that it was unlikely to be a member of your search party. You had all agreed prior on the proper responses to injury during the search: Get to a zone with reception and call an ambulance immediately. Maybe someone who lived near the mountain had found you and carried you to their home?

And yet, as you stared at the ceiling and tried to calmly sort through the details of your situation, you felt terrified.

You'd been separated from your group, lost on a mountain known for causing dozens of people to go missing. You'd been lured even further away from the path by a strange child calling for help and then attacked (if the pain was anything to go by) when you had no hope of escaping safely. It seemed so obvious now why people had been going missing. Such a simple trick could lead any concerned passer-by away from help and onto the mountain. You honestly wanted to kick yourself. Your concern and determination had led you to acting like a character from a slasher flick. And worse...

What if whoever picked you up was in on it too?

 _Should have gone back to the group, IDIOT!_ You hissed at yourself.

You squeezed your eyes shut again and tried to calm the panic building up within you. You were letting yourself get paranoid. There was still a chance that the people who had picked you up were good. There was no guarantee that they were weird murderers. Or kidnappers. Or weird kidnapping murderers. You didn't even know how long you had been out for. Maybe your mysterious rescuers were outside right now, calling for help. There was no decent cell service on the mountain after all. Still, you wished you could remember what happened properly.

Unfortunately the only image that your mind could pull forth from the pain and panic was a pair of blood-red eyes.

You shivered at the memory. Though you couldn't remember your assailant's features with complete accuracy, the image of those eyes was burned into your mind. There'd been so much hatred behind them and, even deeper than that, there had been a dangerous spark that made you picture a smug villain proclaiming their victory. Something about them made your gut twist and your head pound with a fear that you couldn't understand. All you knew was that you never wanted to come face to face with those eyes ever again, even in a fuzzy recollection.

Now fully awake and out of other options, you looked around the room with a heavy head. It was dark and carried the musk of faintly of warm wood and worn carpets. Wherever you were it must have been decently close to the mountain; you didn't know anywhere in the city could replicate the distant yet pleasant scent of soft soil and dried leaves. Other than that it just seemed kind of small; the kind of room you'd expect to be used for kids or very young teens. Maybe it would have been at least a little more interesting if you could actually inspect the objects in the room, but you were just too sore to get up to walk around and investigate further.

Besides,there was something more important you had to inspect first; yourself. Or, at least, your leg. You had a feeling that it probably wouldn't be good due to the occasionally spiking pain that would travel up and cause you to flinch and tear up.

Steeling yourself, you groaned as you hefted your heavy head off the pillow you were laying on. For a moment the world was spinning and you almost passed out again. Just how far had you fallen? Maybe you had a head injury. You felt really weak in general and wondered for a moment if you should give up and lie back down. After a moment of internal debate, curiosity won out over your exhaustion. You wheezed with the effort it took to lift yourself onto your elbows, careful to keep everything below your hips as still as possible to prevent injuring yourself more.

You hung your head low and stared blindly at your lap. Your vision was swirling around and nausea was beginning to overtake you. During the time it took for your dizziness to fade you noticed that your leg was propped up on something. Damn, was it broken? It hurt enough to be broken. Would you have to wear a cast? Or maybe it was just swollen...

As soon as you caught your breath you looked up to assess the damage.

"Oh no. Oh no, no. S-shi... no, no, no... nooo...!"

It was _way_ worse than you had thought.

You whined and whimpered as you let your head fall back onto the downy pillow. Your ears were ringing as your mind spiralled into an instinctual panic that you couldn't control. Despite trying to remain calm and logical about the situation, you felt yourself becoming faint.

The pain you'd felt in your leg was the result of a stab wound. The weapon used to attack you was a rusty steel knife.

You knew this because the knife was still there, handle pressed flat to the back of your leg and the tip of the blade jutting out through the opposite side.

 _It's ok! I'm ok!_ You repeated to yourself as your vision swam and your ears reached a pitch that made your head fog over. _I'm not dead. At least I'm not dead. I'm still alive and this can be fixed!_

Without your permission, your body continued to react to your distress. Your breathing became shaky despite how much you tried to even it out and your vision began to blur as hot tears ran thick trails down your face. A thick clump of something sat heavy in your throat and chest. Everything was so unbelievably horrible in that moment. You didn't know where you were, how you got there or what you'd done to deserve anything that was happening to you. It wasn't _fair_.

Sniffling, you pressed your hands hard over your eyes, trying to use the pressure as a distraction of some kind. It didn't really work and you continued to sniffle quietly.

Why was the knife _still there_? Maybe the person who'd taken you to the child's room didn't have the medical experience to remove it. It was probably better this way. After all, if the knife was removed you'd just be left with a knife-shaped hole. It was no wonder you were so weak and dizzy. How much blood had you lost before you woke up? You probably didn't have much more to lose. Despite the way things looked, the best course of action seemed to be to leave the knife there and allow your dried blood to keep the wound sealed.

Your calf muscles twitched in response to your racing thoughts and a new wave of pain flicked through you. Gritting your teeth, you resigned yourself to it. You would endure this no matter how much your body seemed to want to freak out.

About eight minutes later you felt that you were finally beginning to calm down. Your tears had dried against your face, clumping your eye lashes together with salt. The ringing in your ears faded, becoming a dull hum and eventually leaving you in silence. Your breathing was even and the pain wassitting on the line of 'not _completely_ unbearable'. All things considered, you felt kind of proud of yourself. Compared to what could have been, you felt you'd stayed relatively in control of your absolutely justified panic attack.

Maybe if you just didn't think about it, everything would be fine. All you had to do was avoid looking down.

Now you were tired again. All the panic, fear and pain had taken a huge toll on you. Worrying about what was going to happen next only made you feel sick and uncomfortable. You didn't want to be awake. You wanted to be at a hospital with a perfectly healed leg. Maybe if you just went back to sleep the next time you opened your eyes would be on a bright, clean hospital bed...

Just as you were about to drift off again the bedroom door opened.

You quickly snapped back to attention, keeping yourself as still as possible as someone very large entered the room. You briefly contemplated pretending that you were still asleep- _What if they're dangerous?_ your mind questioned again- but you felt that very little would be solved that way. You needed to know what kind of situation you were in: was this person was your savior or your unfortunate end? So, instead of letting yourself fade back into unconsciousness, you braced yourself and shielded your eyes as the lights snapped on.

…

"Oh dear, you're awake!"


	4. Talking with Toriel

It took a while before you were able to focus on the person who had spoken. The bright lights of the room had been a surprise to your senses when you had been so well adjusted to the darkness. From their voice alone you could tell that whoever had entered was probably some kindly, middle-aged lady and instantly felt better about your situation. It was hard to imagine that someone with such a motherly voice could be a kidnapper or murderer of any kind. Maybe you had let your imagination run away too far on that one.

Rubbing the last of the spots from your eyes you finally looked upon the face of your saviour... and froze.

The person before you was actually a large, fuzzy, white, mammalian creature. She bore a stunning resemblance to a cow or goat, with two small horns sitting atop her head and tiny fangs poking out past her upper lip. She wore a deep purple robe of some sort which was embroidered with a series of large shapes on the front. Her height would have allowed her to easily tower over you even if you weren't bedridden and she looked down at you with warm, yet deeply concerned eyes.

Quietly, you double checked yourself. Were you dreaming? You hadn't already passed out had you? You could easily picture yourself being so tired after the shock of seeing your leg that you slipped into sleep while you were still crying. It sounded cliche, but...

"My dear, are you quite alright? I don't mean to sound rude, but are you capable of speech?"

"Y-yeah." You answered quickly, the question shaking you out of your thoughts. "Yeah, I'm... sorry."

"Oh no, no. There is no need to be sorry..." the creature said, smiling pleasantly and petting your arm. "You have been through quite the ordeal."

You felt bad about the sneaking trepidation that was attempting to worm its way into your mind. This woman, whatever she was, seemed genuinely worried about you. Despite being so large there was nothing about her physique that was particularly threatening. She seemed very soft, in every aspect of the word; what with her lack of any dangerously sharp edges and clean fur. You figured that it would be fine to give her the benefit of the doubt and assume she was as kind as she looked.

"Were you the- the one who brought me here?" You asked, throat catching and cracking due to its dryness. You knew that you shouldn't have cried that much earlier, now you were parched. If only it was possible to control your body with raw logic instead of emotion. Unfortunately there was nothing to be done about it now. Besides, someone in your situation should be allowed to have a terrified crying fit... or ten.

Catching the sound of your voice, the woman gently lifted your head and brought a cup of water up to your lips. You hadn't noticed before, but she'd carried several items into the room with her, including a bucket of water and a cloth.

"Yes, I carried you myself. Though I did have some assistance in making you more comfortable." She informed you softly, making sure that you didn't spill any water as you quickly gulped it down. Gently she brought the cloth to your face and wiped your cheeks. You struggled and tried to protest, but you were weak from your injuries and emotionally exhausted on top of that. Once your face was clean the woman gently pat your head with a paw to comfort you.

A brief memory of waking up to pain and the soft touch of something trying to soothe you echoed through your foggy head. The thought made a small rush of embarrassment race through you as you realised you'd mistaken the woman's fur covered paw for a blanket. You tried to reason with yourself that you had been semi-conscious at the time and it was an easy mistake to make, but your body had already decided that you were going to react awkwardly. Very suddenly you felt yourself blushing. The goat-woman gave a soft chuckle at your reddening face which made you self-conscious, making you blush more. Very quickly you found yourself caught in a downward spiral of internal embarrassment.

Despite your misbehaving emotions, you felt warm. Not because of the heat in your face but because you felt safe in the strange lady's presence. You didn't know this woman, but you understood that she was kind. There was no doubt in your mind that she really had been the one to save you after your terrifying incident on the mountain.

Speaking was a lot easier once your throat didn't feel like a gravel pit and you politely introduced yourself. The lady responded in turn by telling you that her name was Toriel and casually informed you that she was a monster. You paused a moment to consider her words.

A monster? Was that what she really was? It struck you as pretty confusing. A title such as 'monster' didn't seem very fitting for someone who was treating you so kindly.

"You were in a terrible state when we discovered you..." Toriel muttered sadly as she dipped the cloth in her bucket and wringed the excess water out. "So many scratches... and this..."

She reached carefully for your leg and you flinched back, hissing at even the slightest contact. You thought you might start crying again it hurt so much. Toriel whispered reassurances and slowly helped you relax and deal with the pain.

As she carefully washed down your leg with the warm cloth, you couldn't help but feel that you should be feeling more pain. From what you could remember seeing before the ringing in your head had forced you to look away, the wound was pretty awful. Not only was the knife in poor condition but blood had clumped around the edges and crusted darkly in drippy patterns. Sure, you always strived for at least a decent amount of self-control, but a rusty knife plunged through your lower leg would surely have you screaming up a storm without the right treatment. Was there some kind of painkiller mixed into the water she was cleaning you with?

You quietly brought up your questions to Toriel, who nodded as she continued her work.

"I've used my magic to dull the pain. It is not an easy task. Most monsters can be instantly healed and the problem is solved, but I believe a wound like this may be something that only a human could receive. It seems almost impossible for me to treat and I am unsure how to proceed safely, so I can only manage to use enough energy to keep the worst of it at bay."

"You can do magic?" you asked in awe.

"Why, yes, my dear." Toriel smiled in response. "All monsters are capable of some level of magic."

"That's amazing." You smiled back, barely registering the fact that Toriel had finished cleaning your leg, "Monsters sound pretty strong. I guess something like this would be nothing to someone like you."

"Oh no, dear," Toriel shook her head quickly, "any monster that received a wound like this would likely be dust by now."

When you looked at her with a mixture of surprise and confusion, Toriel straightened up and began to elaborate.

"Monsters are primarily made of both Magic and Dust. We also have systems related to our Souls, including HP."

She looked at you to see if you understood what she had said so far. The way her eyes were focussed so intently on you… Was she expecting you to say something? Wait, was she was really going to teach you stuff about monsters? While you were laid out and injured? Even though you had _literally_ just met?

Her stare made you feel as though you were sitting in class and were being handed an essay-length test. You quickly scrambled to throw together _any_ kind of response.

"Uh, S-souls? Like, the essence of a person?" You received a nod. "And HP is short for health points- or, um, hit points, right?"

"Yes, that is exactly it, my dear. Though some of our more poetic ancestors referred to it as HOPE." Toriel smiled, pleased that you were keeping up. "A monster's Soul dictates how much HP they have. If a monster's HP is completely depleted... well, they..."

She looked away with a sad sigh. There was a deep sorrow on her features that you'd seen many times over the past few days. The volunteers you had met who'd had their loved ones go missing often had the same tiredness to their eyes and downwards tilt to their heads. You stumbled through all the comforting words in your mind, but failed to voice any of them. You already knew from experience that throwing out hollow words of condolence was like putting bandaids on a broken arm.

Instead you continued on, skipping the uncomfortable moment and leaving the questions it brought up unasked.

"Toriel, I still don't understand. I know this is a pretty severe injury but how could it kill a monster? Does all the magic fall out or something?"

Instantly Toriel began giggling, "Oh! Oh my _goodness_ , no! It doesn't work that way at all! Magic cannot simply... hehe, oh what a thought!"

You didn't really understand why what you had said that was so funny, but you accepted that it was a good thing since it had wiped Toriel's sorrowful expression away so quickly. After a few moments of snickering quietly to herself at whatever mental image your words had given her, she calmed down and continued.

"No, my dear, it is not because the magic... 'falls out'. Rather it is the intent behind the blow." She became more and more serious as she continued, eyes occasionally flicking to your leg. "A monster's body has a tight connection with their Soul. If they are struck with killing intent, it doesn't matter where the blow lands as long as it strikes deep enough. That anger and want to inflict pain disturbs the flow of magic and can inflict great damage to our HP. No monster would be able to survive a completely purposeful blow..."

As she finished, she no longer tried to keep her eyes on your face. Her attention was entirely focussed upon the knife that was thrust through your body.

"... And I highly doubt that you _fell_ onto this weapon."

The look returned to Toriel's face again, though this time it was laced with something unfamiliar to you. The mix of emotions quickly disappeared before you could decipher it and she looked back to your face with a tired smile.

"Well, now that that's all that said and done, you must be starving. I'll be right back with something to help you regain your strength."


	5. The Only Options in the Underground

It took an uncomfortably long time but you were finally able to look at your leg without having a small anxiety attack each time. You were pretty darn proud of yourself for having achieved such a feat, though you still had to thank Toriel. You didn't really understand how magic worked, but you knew that it was acting just about as well as any painkiller. Not to mention that it was far easier to glance downwards when your leg didn't look like a complete war zone.

She'd done so much for you in such a short amount of time; rescuing you, giving you a soft bed, keeping your leg raised while you were unconscious, cleaning your wounds and comforting you. Not to mention bringing you lunch! You made sure to let her know how grateful you were when she returned with two plates of sandwiches. She waved off your thanks with a smile and sat herself down on a chair she had pulled up next to you.

You didn't recognize some of the things that were in the sandwich, but you could both see and taste that most of it was salad ingredients and some kind of root vegetable. The strangest thing about it was how it seemed to disappear into you like cotton candy. You were pretty sure sandwiches shouldn't be able to do that, but you weren't going to be rude and question it. It had a delicious and unique flavour so you ended up cleaning off your plate rather quickly. Almost all your nausea and dizziness was gone by the time you were done. You wondered if the food was infused with some kind of healing magic and smiled in wonder, thanking Toriel.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it, my dear." She said as she stacked your plate on top of hers and placed them on the bedside table.

You shifted uncomfortably. Your leg was acting up again and it was sending twitches through you at random intervals. Maybe magic healing food hadn't been the best idea. It felt as though some of your skin had tried to patch up again and now the blade was trying to cut through you a second time. You ground your teeth together tightly, stiffening your jaw as you rode it out in silence.

Even with everything that Toriel had done, knowing that the knife was still there made the hairs on the back of your neck prickle and your stomach twist uncomfortably. As nice as the monster lady was you couldn't just hang around all day with her while you were in such a state. It was just… for some reason you felt nervous about bringing up the issue.

Letting out a long sigh, you decided to finally bite the bullet.

"Um, hey, not to get too serious again so soon," you began hesitantly, staring at your hands, "but I need to get this knife removed sooner or later."

As you had expected, the monster-woman stiffened at your words.

"I'm sorry, but I don't have the knowledge or ability to help you do that." She muttered with a look of regret.

"I need to get to a hospital. I need a doctor to get this thing out of me before it gets worse."

There was a moment of silence as Toriel looked at the floor and squeezed her eyes shut. You allowed the silence to stretch on as she thought. There was no real way of knowing how she was going to react. You had only known her for a mere couple of hours.

 _This is the part where she turns on me._ The negative part of you whined. _She'll attack and lock me away so that I can never leave. She might not even understand how human wounds work! I'll end up with an infection and die._

You quietly boxed the little voice away as Toriel began to lift her head again. She sighed and looked at you with exhausted eyes.

"How old are you, my dear?"

The question took you by surprise and it took a moment for you to respond. She nodded before continuing, "You may be among the oldest humans to ever fall down here."

You blinked out of confusion. Was taking care of humans a common thing for Toriel? How young had the other humans been when they'd ended up meeting her? You remembered the dense forest that had covered the mountain. You'd had a thought as you were searching it, something about it being too thick and how if you had been a bit younger and smaller it might have been easier to maneuver through...

"... And with that taken into consideration... it may be simpler to just tell you the truth."

You gazed up at Toriel, slightly nervous about what 'the truth' could possibly be. If she was only telling you because you were not within her definition of 'child' then you suspected that what she had to say would be pretty grim.

With a deep intake of breath, Toriel once again entered her 'teacher mode' as you were beginning to call it.

"Long ago, I and monsters like myself, were sealed underground. It was the conclusion to a war that has long since been forgotten by the surface. Humans feared monsters for their powerful magic and their affinity with Souls, even though the power of monsters paled in comparison in the strength and will of humans. The barrier that the humans of the past created to trap us is so strong that it prevents anyone from leaving the Underground... Even their own kind who pass through it by mistake."

And like that she was done. She stared blankly at you, obviously not wanting to repeat herself.

The information sunk in slowly. Toriel's explanation had been so brief that you barely registered it. The part about the monster/human war explained a few wondering questions you'd had about how a goat-woman and other monsters could live on a spooky mountain without being discovered, but the main point was that there was a magical barrier keeping you separated from anyone with human medical experience.

That meant no chance of a proper treatment for your stab wound.

"Th-that's it? There's no way out? Not even one loophole?" You stared up at Toriel, wide eyed and clutching at the bed sheets on your lap.

"It would take seven human Souls to break the barrier... But only one monster Soul and one human Soul to pass through it. Unfortunately, a monster's Soul is only revealed after death... and only the strongest of monsters, Boss Monsters, have Souls that last long enough to prove useful for that particular task. If you wished to leave… You would have to murder a monster like myself."

Your eyes widened further. "What!? Are you serious? I can't do that! There's no way!"

Toriel looked away from you, face full of pain and guilt. She wasn't lying, you were sure. You had fallen and been trapped underground, miles away from anything that could save you. It was entirely possible that you would die slowly deep down in the earth, either from your leg being too much to handle or something else killed you. Yeah, this was _definitely_ the kind of stuff that was too heavy for a kid.

You racked your brain for a solution. There was no way that you could allow anyone to get hurt, or god forbid, die for your sake. The way that Toriel was talking about using Souls as tools for escape creeped you out too. As far as you were concerned a person's Soul was a precious and intangible part of them and was definitely not to be disturbed after death. You'd read ghost stories. It didn't matter if that person was monster or human, you wouldn't dare to even touch on the idea.

You frowned deeply. But how would you get home if not with a monster Soul? If Toriel's kind had been underground for so long that humanity just up and forgot about them you were certain that they would have exhausted all other possibilities of escape by now. Even if there was something that they'd missed there was no way you could find anything in your current condition. As much as you hated it, that left you with one option…

"M-my child, I have been cowardly. Perhaps it is time that I sacrificed-"

"No, forget it." You quickly cut off whatever it was that Toriel was about to say. "We'll just have to do this the old fashioned way."

"...'Old fashioned way'?" Toriel repeated, startled by your sudden interruption.

You looked down at the knife jutting out from your leg, leaning closer for better inspection. Though Toriel had cut away the bottom of your pant leg to keep the material from irritating the cut and making a mess, you felt that at least some kind of bandaging would be needed. Despite the jagged edge of the knife and the gut-churning sight of the not-so-clean cut, the wound was pretty well sealed around the metal. The main issue you would have was re-sealing it once you were done. Since it cut all the way through there was the huge problem of stopping yourself from losing too much blood. Toriel would have to help, as you would probably pass out by that point.

No, scratch that, you would _definitely_ pass out.

"Stitches won't work... probably don't even have the materials..."

Meanwhile, Toriel watched you mumbling to yourself with a mixture of confusion and dread. A monster like her couldn't be expected to know how to treat a wound as deep as yours, but she had tried her best with her limited experience. As far as she knew humans needed to have their wounds sealed at all times or else they would… _leak_ to death, so she had let the knife be.

A small corner of Toriel's mind had dared to hope that perhaps it could be left there permanently without any need for further action; humans were so amazingly durable after all. But it seemed that wouldn't be the case. She didn't know much of human medicines, particularly its modern forms, but from your words it seemed you weren't considering modern help anymore. The faint and poorly-informed memories she had of 'old fashioned' human medicine were, quite frankly, sickening. Were you really going to attempt to...?

"H-hey, um, T-toriel," You stuttered, looking up at her with a nervous smirk to hide your own nerves, "You said that monsters can do magic stuff, r-right?"

"Yes... we certainly can."

You could see the worry clearly on the poor woman's face. Unfortunately for the both of you, you were not in the mood to die. You needed to deal with your injuries as soon as possible, like it or not. And if that meant… doing something like, ugh, like treating the wound yourself.

Welp, you would just have to suck it up!

You swallowed and continued.

"So, uh... You have healing magic. That'll help. B-but... y'know, it _might_ not be enough. What about fire? Can you do things with fire?"

"Well, actually, it's a specialty of mine..." Toriel murmured, not entirely sure where you were taking things but disturbed nonetheless.

You looked down nervously at your leg. Would this _really_ be worth it? M-maybe it would be better to just leave the knife there and consider other options. But you'd already been told your other options, hadn't you? None of them were very appealing. Either you could die from blood loss or infection, become an outright murderer... or...

"Have you ever heard of, w-what's the word... cater... c-cauta... cauterizing a wound?"

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I know what you're thinking, but I promise the next chapter is not as bad as you think it is.

... Really.


	6. Toriel's Friends

A few hours had passed since your discussion with Toriel. You'd had to explain what a cauterization was, which didn't go so well. It was strange how her face could still appear to pale despite the fact that it was completely covered in fluffy white fur. Still, it was definitely the appropriate response. After all, anyone would have that kind of reaction if a wounded stranger suddenly asked them if they would kindly help them _melt their flesh_.

But it wasn't as if you had many other options.

Leaving the knife in your leg wasn't just uncomfortable, it was dangerous. Even if you lay perfectly still your calf muscles occasionally twitched and caused you to cut yourself again. If that kind of thing kept up you might just bleed to death. Besides, burning the cut closed would help to prevent infection and internal bleeding if you got it right... Right?

To be honest, the thought was more than a little sickening to you. The only thing that kept you from backing out of the idea was the possibility of painful death by disease if you didn't try to do something soon. And on top of it all you simply felt bad for Toriel. You knew that your injury would be mind-numbingly agonising if the kind monster wasn't using some kind of magic as a painkiller; which left you feeling extremely guilty. No matter how much you questioned her she wouldn't tell you if using her magic was causing her any strain. You didn't understand how magic worked but watching her eyes get duller and duller over time told you that she wouldn't be able to keep it up forever.

And yet she continued to insist that you try to think of another option. Aside from the cold-blooded murder that Toriel had disturbingly brought up, the only other thing you could think of was stitches. Stitches, however, would not solve the problem of the internal bleeding that was bound to happen once the knife was removed. For goodness sake the thing was jammed in one side and sticking out the other! You had no idea just how many veins and muscles had been damaged. Just imagining it made your stomach twist. As disgusting as melting your skin and muscle together sounded, finding a needle and wire to sew together your own leg wouldn't just be torture, it would be _pointless_ torture. At least with the use of fire magic you might be able to get it over and done with in one swift swipe.

You were sure that getting Toriel to agree with the plan was the hardest part and you were glad when she finally promised to help you see it through. You didn't even argue with her when she insisted that you wait a little longer before attempting the 'procedure'. Honestly, there was no way you were going to argue that point. It wasn't as if you were looking forward to it yourself.

"It's almost evening..." you heard her mutter as she washed and dried your leg for the third time. You wondered how much more of a mess you would make before the end of the day. So far you had stained maybe four cloths and several books which were being used to keep your leg propped up so the knife handle didn't touch the bed. You hoped that the books hadn't been very interesting.

Not lifting your head from your pillow you sighed. "So… you wanna get this over with now?"

"No, _goodness_ no! We are not prepared for such things just yet." Toriel sternly reminded you. "Actually, I am waiting for some... very good friends of mine to arrive."

You raised an eyebrow at the sudden fondness that crept into her voice. Even though she'd been taking care of you so well and trying to keep your spirits up in order to distract you from your unfortunate circumstances, you had been under the impression that Toriel was quite the sombre woman. Even as you graciously endured her sitting in the bedroom and reading you all one-hundred-and-one snail facts from one of her seemingly many books (with the one-hundred-and-first fact being something she had written in herself) you found yourself noticing just how forced her smiles were.

"They must be very nice then." You mused and Toriel beamed back at you.

"Oh yes, my dear, they are quite something." She agreed enthusiastically. " Remember when I mentioned to you that I had help in bringing you here? Well, they were the monsters who assisted me. I walk through the ruins every day to check for humans such as yourself who have the misfortune of falling down here. Recently they have been accompanying me every day for my evening rounds. Sometimes they even stay the night." Sighing and allowing a small, content smile to cross her face, Toriel gazed off into nothing.

"It's nice... having company."

You smiled in turn and opened your mouth to ask for more details when you suddenly heard loud footsteps beyond the bedroom door. Immediately, Toriel snapped back to reality and quickly put her cleaning materials to the side. She made a beeline for the doorway, still chatting happily at you.

"Oh, that must be them now! I left the entrance slightly ajar so that they could arrive on their own today.I hadn't been planning to leave your side so-"

Right before she could grasp the handle, the door was dramatically kicked open. It rebounded off the wall with a bang as a tall someone stood proudly at the door. The sudden loud noise coupled with the jarring entrance caused you to jump slightly. Biting your lip on a pained hiss you grabbed at your leg, trying to will away the pain that came with accidentally moving the punctured limb.

"Miss Toriel, I am happy to announce that my brother and I have acquired many useful and necessary items for the care of the human!"

Wow, not only was their entrance loud but so was their voice and personality. Your ears were practically ringing from the sudden change in volume thanks to the arrival of Toriel's friend.

Over at the door, said motherly monster was inspecting the wall for dents and giving a stern glare at the new arrival. Holding several blankets and with a great number of shopping bags hanging off of their arms was a very guilty looking skeleton. The new monster was almost as tall as Toriel and (obviously) very lanky. You couldn't really make out what they were wearing behind the mountain of various 'necessary items' they were carrying, but what you could see was dark shorts and round shoulder pads shaped like... basket balls? Monster fashion sure was... interesting.

"Papyrus, I expect that I do not have to explain why what you just did was inappropriate." Toriel chided.

"Oh, I'm, y-yes." The skeleton, Papyrus apparently, responded with sweat (huh? _how_?) beading on his brow. "I was just so excited to put my mothering skills to practice that I forgot to remember how to open the door normally!"

Shaking her head Toriel sighed and her glare melted away to a gentle smile.

"I supposed it is okay this one time. Just be sure to not do it again."

Her forgiveness instantly caused the skeleton monster to light up. Joyfully he strutted into the centre of the room and dumped down everything he'd been carrying onto the ground with a heavy _thwump_. After looking proudly at his work he turned to you. You stiffened as he immediately approached your bedside with a beaming smile.

"Human! You are awake! Just as the Qu- Toriel had said!"

From your half-sitting position on the bed you leaned slightly away from the skeleton. It wasn't even because he looked scary, because frankly he looked more like a cartoon skeleton come to life rather than the anatomical type you'd see in a text book. No, it was more the way he stood over you heavily invaded your personal space and made you uncomfortable.

"Y-yep," you smiled weakly, feeling backed into a corner by the truck tons of over-enthusiasm the guy was radiating, "I sure am awake."

Your nerves went unnoticed as the skeleton's giddiness was only encouraged by your response.

"This is wonderful news! To be honest I was very worried that you would not be awake at all." The confession was slightly softer than his previous shouting, but the moment worry appeared on his face it was replaced by another smile and it was back to the yelling again. "But you are awake and that means that you can only get better from here on! That is because I, the _great_ and _motherly_ Papyrus, am now here to nurse you back to health with my _many_ wonderful gifts!"

Quickly he turned his back and began to rummage through the pile of bags. You shot Toriel a confused look but she only shrugged with a funny smile on her face. Before you knew it, several items were being shoved into your arms.

"You'll need this and this... Oh! This is a stuffed toy for you to hug! And this is a stuffed toy for the stuffed toy to hug! I also bought several blankets in different colours since I didn't know what your favourite would be! There's also-"

"Wow, bro, if you keep stacking things on the bed we might forget that there's a human under there."

Peeking out from behind the many soft toys and blankets that had been wrapped around you, your eyes landed on another newcomer. A second skeleton, smaller and somehow bulky despite being, well, a _skeleton_ , stood smiling at your bedside. You probably hadn't noticed him walk in thanks to Papyrus' fussing. Unlike his brother, this monster was very calm and stood with his hands comfortably tucked away in his jacket pockets. He also had little white dots in his eye sockets which turned to look at you. Somehow, despite being made of bones, he winked.

"Hey there pal. Name's Sans. Sans the skeleton."

He offered his hand forward to shake. You tried to reach out and take it to be polite but found your hands were trapped under a mountain of soft fabrics and knitted animals. Before you could properly free yourself, Papyrus let out a garbled sound of anger and grabbed Sans' wrist.

"Nyeh! Sans, you will not expose the human to your infantile tomfoolery while they are under my care!"

As his hand was turned over it was revealed that Sans had taped a whoopie cushion to his palm. You raised an eyebrow at the strange setup while the busted prankster chuckled.

"Darn, bro, you got me."

"... Pretty cheeky." You muttered. It had been startling when they'd first arrived, but now that you'd seen the two skeleton brothers for yourself you could see why Toriel enjoyed having them around. They had personality in spades.

"Nope, sorry, no cheeks here." Sans said, smile somehow getting wider. "I'm all bones."

A snort was quickly muffled over at the doorway and you turned to see Toriel struggling against a fit of giggles. You couldn't really blame her, a smile was practically grafted onto your face now thanks to her friend's strange antics.

Noticing that her sudden outburst had made her the center of attention, Toriel quickly pulled herself back together and approached the three of you.

"Ahem, yes. Well, Papyrus, you've done a wonderful job in making our guest comfortable. I think that everything you've collected will definitely be enough to help with the healing process." The effect of her words were instantaneous as the taller skeleton lit up like a lightbulb. As she stood next to you she clasped her hands together and smiled warmly at the brothers, continuing, "The next step is to make sure that our new friend has lots to eat and drink as well as plenty of rest."

"Aha! Another thing I am most certainly great at!" Papyrus declared, posing. "Fear not human, as I, the master chef Papyrus, will keep you fed at all times! Starting _right now_!"

And with that he dashed out of the room, a loud 'Nyeh heh heh!' following him out and into parts of Toriel's house that were unknown to you. As soon as he left Sans sauntered over to the door and gently closed it.

"... Well, guess it's time to get down to business, huh?" he said grimly, turning back to you and Toriel.

"Yes, I think so too."

The mood of the room became instantly heavy as both monsters stood at your bedside.

"Toriel, uh, already called me about your... plan." Sans said as he approached. His gaze shifted to the side and even though he had a smile permanently on his face he looked really unnerved. "... You sure this is gonna work? You really wanna do this?"

Knowing what he was referring to, you looked at your leg. To be completely honest you were utterly terrified. You wanted to say no and just leave it at that. But you knew you couldn't. Not if you wanted to live.

Swallowing the bile that was pushing its way up your throat you nodded and spoke, "If I don't remove this thing now it's just going to bleed me out slowly until I die."

Toriel and Sans shared a nervous glance. After a moment's more hesitation they carefully helped to shift you so that your heel was placed upon the chair Toriel had been using to read to you from while the rest of you sat on the edge of the bed. The new position left your leg arched over empty air and Toriel carefully placed an already bloody cloth over the floor so that you wouldn't stain it.

With the preparations taken care of, warm licks of flames began to gather in Toriel's palms. She nodded at Sans who carefully reached out and wrapped a hand around the handle of the knife in your leg. Even with just that small amount of pressure you could feel the knife digging into you with more intensity. You were suddenly very grateful for all of Papyrus' silly little gifts. There were plenty of soft things to ball up into your fists as you tensed and tried to keep your breathing even.

"H-hey..." you choked out, not looking at either of the two monsters, "i-if, for some reason, this goes wrong... Then that just means t-there was nothing you could have done. Okay?"

You didn't see the nervous looks the two were exchanging, sweat gathering on each of their foreheads. You forced yourself to let go of a small bunny plush in favor of bunching up the end of one of the blankets that had been wrapped around you earlier.

"The blankets are nice." You muttered before shoving the fabric between your teeth and biting down.

"... Yeah. " Agreed Sans. "I'll tell my bro you said thanks."


	7. Speaking with Sans

One more Chapter will be uploaded after this one before I take a break! If you can spare a minute to leave some kind of response that would be appreciated. I'm still not entirely sure if the writing is flowing properly and it would really help me improve the next text block.

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You woke up feeling stiff and drained. Your body was aching and heavy as you lay pressed into the soft mattress. Plush and fuzzy toys were piled high around you and the blankets over your body were almost too hot for you to bear. Unfortunately you were too weak to push anything away and so lay helpless among the walls of your personal fluff prison.

And still, despite the pain and discomfort, you were thankful that you had woken up at all.

It had been agonising, even worse than you could have ever expected. Because she had been focussing so much on keeping your pain at bay before, Toriel only had enough remaining energy to focus on a single type of magic during the 'treatment'. That meant that there was no healing magic to dull your senses.

Basically, starting from the exact moment the knife was removed... you had felt _everything_.

It was difficult to remember what had happened after that.

You knew that Toriel had used her fire magic to seal the wound as quickly as possible just as she had promised, or else you certainly wouldn't be alive to experience the feeling of a stuffed elephant trunk poking your face. If you thought about it hard enough you could remember how her magic had felt. It wasn't quite like normal flames, not to say you had gone around casually melting yourself together with fire before, but the magical version seemed to be sharper and have an almost electric undercurrent to it.

Restraining yourself had been hard. You had cried, obviously, from the bitter and agonising pain, but at least you had kept your screaming to a minimum. The soft blanket between your teeth had been a huge help to that end and digging your hands into the mattress and plushies stopped you from striking out at or pushing away the two monsters who were only trying to help you. It seemed like had taken forever and somehow no time at all. You couldn't even be sure exactly when you had passed out during the events. Or maybe you had passed out after it was done and simply forgotten it.

 _At least I'm alive._ You thought in a daze as you lazily tried to push all the soft toys away with your face. _Hopefully it was worth it._

Now that the main problem was dealt with you weren't really sure what you were going to do next. Before you had been afraid of dying. It was simple survival instinct that had prompted you to take the path of mutilating yourself in exchange for a second chance. Now you weren't under the threat of bleeding out you realised you had no clear goal other than recovery.

You let out a long breath. Recovery sounded like a long-term commitment. Unfortunately it was unavoidable in your situation. You would have to learn some serious patience. It would be a long while before you would be able to stand, let alone walk. You didn't know how long it took for skin and muscle to heal or even how long it took for the pain to die down. Forget not being able to leave the underground, you couldn't even get out of bed in your current state.

"Hey, you awake over there?"

Turning your head sideways you saw the shorter skeleton who had helped you complete the gruesome job of patching yourself up. His name was Sand or something, right? No wait, it was coming back to you... Sans. Sans the skeleton, that was it. You had missed him in the slight darkness of the room as the lights had been off since you woke. He sat in the chair that your heel had been resting on while... all that had happened.

For how casual he had seemed when you first met him, he looked pretty pensive now. Despite how bad his posture was as he lay slumped against the back of the chair, his arms and face were rigid. That might have been a redundant way to describe a skeleton if not for the fact that you had seen the easy way he moved earlier. When he had been next to you with his brother and Toriel he'd been a lot more... loose? Perhaps it was just because of the dark and your tired vision but he seemed like he was as stiff as stone as you gazed groggily back at the sharp lights in his eye sockets.

"...Y...eah." You whispered, voice fading at the end due to your pitiable state.

After hearing your weak voice respond to him, Sans seemed to relax a little. Maybe he had just been concerned about you? It had been hard to read his face even in a decently lit environment due to his permanent smile. In fact, he barely seemed to open his mouth when he talked. It was pretty easy to misinterpret what his thoughts were, especially in your current state.

"You had everyone worried for a while there," he admitted, emotions still unreadable to your tired eyes, "thought you might not wake up again."

"Mmn..." you mumbled in acknowledgement. You felt bad for subjecting these people you had just met to such nerve wracking and disturbing things. For as little as you knew about them, you didn't think that any of the three monsters you'd met deserved to be in a situation where they had to deal with a human corpse. It made you feel guilty for making such a risky move just to survive. But it had been their choice to help you.

You almost didn't hear Sans get up and shuffle over to the bed. He had a glass of water for you that you hadn't seen him pick up, but you couldn't drink it while you were lying down. The water was left on the bedside table while you struggled to sit upright enough to be able to drink it. Sans didn't rush you, only keeping a hand out to stop you from falling back down onto the pillows and never really touching you. You couldn't decide if you were grateful for being allowed to deal with the pain in your own time or bitter for him not putting in more effort to help you up.

When you finally dug your elbows down behind yourself and let your head sit heavily on your chest, Sans grabbed the glass and held it out for you. Your hand was shaking so badly when you took it that you almost spilled water all over yourself.

 _I wish Toriel was here instead._ A bitter part of your mind whined. _She would have helped me sit up and drink the water. Probably would have brushed the hair out of my face and rearranged the bed to be more comfortable too._

You washed those self-entitled thoughts away with the water, replacing them with something fairer.

 _This guy doesn't even know me. He didn't have to help me before and he doesn't have to keep helping me now. I should be grateful that I woke up with anyone by my side at all. So what if he's acting so cautious? I'd be pretty anxious in his shoes. Playing doctor to a wounded skeleton would be nerve wracking!_

You weakly nodded your appreciation for the water, desperately trying to keep yourself from falling down from the dizziness it caused afterwards. The skeleton only continued to wear his indecipherable smile, eyes never leaving your face once. He carefully replaced the glass in your hand with some kind of large cookie.

"Better eat that. It might help you heal. Then again, it's monster food, so it's made more to effect HP more than the, uh... physical wounds humans can get. Just don't expect too much I guess."

You didn't really care if the magical monster cookie would heal you or not; it was tasty and you were starving. You murmured out a grateful thanks as you ate, carefully pacing yourself instead of shoving the whole thing in your face and inevitably choking.

Sans continued to stand by your bedside and watch you carefully. It was kind of creepy. You knew it made sense for Toriel to ask him or his brother to wait and see if you woke up (she had seemed so tired after using all of that magic), but did he really have to take it so seriously now that you were awake?

As you popped the last piece of the cookie you wondered how you could politely inform Sans that he was really beginning to freak you out.

It seemed that he had been waiting to beat you to the punch.

"So... you wanna talk about how you got like this?"

It was a reasonable question. Why wouldn't one of the people who had rescued you ask how you'd gotten into such a situation? But you still raised an eyebrow. Toriel had never asked you anything about your circumstances. Maybe that was why you found it so strange how blunt Sans was being, just asking you straight up without any kind of lead-in.

But, despite that, you had no reason to lie; of course you were going to tell him the truth. Just because he hadn't been very tactful in asking didn't mean you had to deny him answers. Like you had reminded yourself before; he didn't _have_ to help you. A small recount of your 'mishap' on the mountainside was a small price to pay.

"I... was on the mountain. I volunteered."

Your voice was still weak, but you had enough energy to push it beyond a whisper and into a gravelly tone that was halfway to normal. Sans waited patiently, not moving but thankfully not as stiff as he had started out.

"Volunteered for what?"

"Search party."

You missed the slight increase of tension in the skeleton as you tried to shuffle yourself back down into the bed. Your arms were cramping up from supporting yourself for so long.

"People went missing... A whole lot of people. More than what could be considered runaways or... other things like that. They all went missing out near the mountain. The cops were taking to long to find anything. People got worried. I was asked to help out, so we all went up on the mountain together... It was dark and I ended up losing the rest of the group in the forest." You sighed, irritated with yourself. If only you had been paying enough attention to the other volunteers. You should have paired up with someone.

Even though your story had been simplified to spare your voice, Sans had listened intently to it.

"...And the knife?"

"Yeah that was... not great." You admitted quietly, looking away. As Sans continued to stare at you curiously you let out a huff of air and continued. "I was heading back home after getting separated. I'm not completely stupid. I know people disappeared on Mount Ebbot even before a few months ago. 'S not that safe up there if you're alone. But I heard someone calling for help and ended up following it. I mean, that was the whole reason I was up there; to find people and get them home. How was I supposed to know it was a trick?"

"So you were attacked." Sans easily concluded.

"Yeah..." you sighed bitterly, "and not even just attacked, I got led on pretty bad. One moment I thought they were in the forest, but then I heard them in a cave instead. There was this huge pit. They stabbed me when I was right by it. Maybe they thought that if they couldn't take me down with one hit the fall would finish me? Haha. Well, jokes on them... I'm still alive."

Your sour laugh was followed by silence. Despite surviving, you didn't feel very victorious. You didn't bother to look over at Sans as you relived your last memories before the fall. You were bitter about being attacked, that was for sure, but you didn't really know what to do about it. Maybe if you could get back to the city you could report what you had experienced to the police. If they knew what you knew now, no one would be allowed near the mountain unless they were a trained officer.

"Not sure if I wanna ask this, but..."

You turned your attention back to the stout skeleton at your side. For the first time since you had woken up the piercing lights of his eyes were not focussed on you. He was looking away at the corner of the room, though his body was still angled completely towards you. This time you were almost certain of what emotion he was expressing. Sans was nervous.

He took an almost unnoticeable breath before looking back at you.

"... Do you, uh, remember what the person looked like? The one who... attacked you?"

Why, do you know something about it? You wanted to ask, but bit your tongue.

"I didn't see much, it was dark they got behind me."

Even with all your focus on him, you couldn't tell if Sans was sagging from disappointment or relief. Damn his controlled features.

"But..." you continued, partially because you wanted to tell the whole truth and partially because you still wanted to gauge the skeleton's reaction, "I do remember one thing."

The difference in Sans' posture was incredibly slight, but you were finally awake enough to register it. You knew you had his full attention as you continued.

"I don't know how many humans you've seen, but there are some traits which are unusual to us, so they're usually the first thing we see when we look at each other. There's this rare thing where some humans are born without colour. It's called abinoism… uh, albinism? Anyway, it can really make a person stand out. For example when our eyes have no colour in them they're almost always red. Whoever stabbed me had _really_ red eyes."

If Sans didn't have those two white dots in his eye sockets you wouldn't have known he reacted at all. As it was you were left to stare uncomfortably at his now dark and empty face. If you had thought he was hard to read before, you weren't going to have any luck now.

You gave him a moment to think about... whatever he was thinking about... before you felt too intimidated by Sans' empty stare to keep it up. You cleared your throat and felt relief rush over you when his eye-lights snapped back on almost immediately, turning to focus on you again.

"Heh. Sorry about that. I kinda zoned out." he chuckled sheepishly as he scratched at the back of his skull.

"I'm not going to ask. Just... I probably owe you it. ...Thanks for saving my life."

You must have been getting better at reading expressions, because you were sure that Sans reacted to your words with surprise, quickly followed by relief. He chuckled again, though slightly more genuine this time, and began to head for the door.

"Thanks for understanding, pal. Guess I'll go see how Toriel's goin'. She'll be excited knowin' you're awake again."

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Fun fact: I've actually done many years of volunteer work with the Australian Association of the Blind, so I know a fair bit about Albinism from experience with some of the kids there. I just made the Reader sound like they didn't know much about it because I didn't want to assume that anyone would know the in-depth details of melanin and an absence of pigmentation and how it can effect vision, skin care etc. I think the best way to approach a Reader-Insert story is to treat it like a college report; always assume that the person reading your work has no prior knowledge of what you are discussing!


	8. A Good Time

Oops, I got sick and couldn't upload yesterday! Here's the final chapter in this block! More maybe in a couple of days! Reviews would be nice TH ANKSSS!

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Toriel's house was just as cozy as you had imagined it to be. A few minutes after Sans had told the others that you were awake his brother had carried you, with a surprising amount of care, into the livingroom. From Toriel's chair you could see partially into the small kitchen behind you as well the entry to the hallway where your guest room was located. A warm fire crackled in the hearth surrounded by tall shelves of well-read books. The whole atmosphere of the place was so comfortable you almost found yourself falling asleep again because of it.

Unfortunately your leg prevented you from doing much more than closing your eyes.

Almost as soon as your grogginess had faded whilst to Sans the pain had returned. Now that you were propped up in the lounge chair (and practically being sucked into it due to its size) you could see it clearly without the need to pull yourself upright every time. The damage wasn't completely fixed and you had never expected it to be, but it seemed you had overestimated how strong Toriel's fire magic was. Instead of being the burnt and warped mess you had expected, most of your flesh was barely even touched. The area of the cut was disturbingly ink and goopy and just _barely_ starting to scab.

At first you wondered if Toriel had been too scarred or exhausted to put in her full effort to really melt you (not that you blamed her, the process had been awful enough as it was). However she explained that humans, with their physical forms, were incredibly difficult to damage with magic alone. Magic mostly affected the Soul, which meant that it had great effects against the bodies of monsters, which were practically an extension to their Souls, but it just wasn't the case with human bodies, which were synchronized with their Souls but not entirely dependent.

"Now, if the damage had been done to your Soul, I would have been able to heal it instantly." Toriel continued to explain, sitting on a dining chair she had placed across from you. "Unfortunately that wasn't the case. You were attacked physically with another physical object. I may have been able to fix up some of your bruises before, but magic does have its limits."

"Well, either way I'm not about to die anymore. So thanks. I know it must have been pretty terrifying for you guys too."

Toriel smiled brightly at your gratitude.

"It's quite alright, my dear. I'll help tend to your wounds in any way I can. You can stay here and-"

You both jumped as another loud _bang_ rang out from the kitchen, breaking both of your thoughts.

You had no idea what Papyrus was doing in there. Honestly, you were half sure that he was trying to create some kind of explosive from the amount of noise he was making. He'd practically sprinted in there after placing you down on Toriel's chair with three blankets and an unnecessary amount of soft toys. He was yelling something about you 'napping through dinner' and 'missing out on trying the GREAT Papyrus' _new_ and _improved_ spaghetti' right before he ran out of sight and into the kitchen. Finally he appeared again, looking victorious and with a full plate carried in one hand.

"Human!" he declared, "You are about to experience my greatest masterpiece! To make up for your inability to sample my cooking skills previously, I have put forth my _greatest_ effort yet!"

He started to list the 'special ingredients' of the dish and explain the, uh, _unique_ method of preparation he had used but you were kind of distracted. The smell alone from the plate was completely overwhelming. You had no idea how you hadn't detected it while it was still in the kitchen not even a few feet behind you. It was funny how the guy was apparently a monster, because from the smell of things he'd created a monstrosity all of his own.

You managed to pull your eyes away from the plate only to find both Papyrus and Toriel watching you carefully. Toriel was looking at you with a somewhat strained smile, almost as if she were saying _Please, please just try it_. You wanted to shoot her a look back that said _I already had one brush with death already, thanks!_ but Papyrus was right next to you and looking at you with hopeful eyes.

Despite what your nose was telling you the spaghetti _looked_ alright. It was kinda pretty and non-poisonous looking. You could probably survive one bite.

You held your breath as you readied yourself. _Just one bite..._

Before you could hesitate any further you shoved a light forkful of the stuff into your mouth. You sat still for a moment, body still stiff in anticipation of the flavour. After a couple of seconds in silence, you began to wonder if you had somehow missed. But no, it was in your mouth. It was just...

"Oh." You said aloud as you swallowed. "I didn't... know you could cook spaghetti like this. That's pretty... special. How did you make this again?"

The skeleton immediately lit up and began to repeat his cooking process to you. Now that you were really listening to him you were even more confused. Tomatoes, onions, yogurt, chocolate sprinkles- he'd put so many things into the dish, which explained the smell, but...

You casually ate another mouthful as you listened to the excited rant. Nope, nothing. There was no taste at all in your mouth. How. Just _how_? It was a mystery. Either your taste buds had instantly died of shock or all of the weird ingredients had truly reached a flavour singularity. A flavour black hole of sorts. An anti-flavour.

You stared up at the monster with a morbid sense of awe, not even realising that you had eaten everything until your fork hit the bare ceramic plate.

"Ah, finished already?" Papyrus exclaimed happily, swiftly taking the plate even as your confused gaze continued to follow it. "It must be because of your human injuries! You need a lot of food to recover properly! Luckily, I, the Great Papyrus, am here to provide as much spaghetti as you need until you are healthy again! And once you are well... we will have celebratory spaghetti!"

And then he was rushing back into the kitchen again.

"...Heh. Wow. You actually ate all of it, huh?"

You turned as much as you could in order to see Sans. He had chosen to sit at the table almost completely behind the chair you were sitting in. His position made it hard for you to see him in your peripheral vision and you had almost forgotten he was there. Toriel had asked if he would sit in front of the fire with you both, but he had refused. Something about being able to keep a better eye on the kitchen from that position, though you were almost certain he had spent the entire time staring at the back of your head. Maybe unemotionally observing people was just a thing with him.

"Y'know, my bro's actually been getting pretty good at cooking recently. Just last week was the first time he managed to make anything actually edible."

"Oh. That's... Oh." You mumbled, still kind of numb.

Sans chuckled and Toriel cleared her throat. She had a friendly look on her face which was underlined with slight concern.

"Are you alright, my dear?" She asked, "I know that Papyrus is a rather... _unique_ chef. Though I did manage to convince him that glitter is not food a while ago. He's a very enthusiastic learner. Just with interesting methods."

You double checked yourself. Your stomach wasn't complaining as far as you could tell. You weren't sick. Had your body shut down? You discreetly pinched your arm to check if your nerves were still working. Yep. All in working order.

"I'm... fine, yeah. I'm just... not one-hundred percent sure about what just happened?"

"Well what did it taste like?"

You paused, unsure how to describe what you had just experienced. Airy? Not present? Impossible? Like cooking oil made solid?

Finally, your addled mind landed on a single word.

"... _Boneless_?"

There was a brief moment of silence before the two monsters burst into laughter. You sat amongst your blankets with a concerned smile plastered awkwardly on your face. Toriel was almost doubled over on the wooden chair in front of you. You didn't have to turn around to know that Sans was in a pretty similar state, though he seemed to be a bit more in control of his own fit.

"I'm serious." You said, still confused.

"I-I know! That's why it's- _pfft! Bone-_ less!" Toriel had tears in her eyes from laughing so hard.

"Hey, don't worry, pal." Sans said from his own chair. "Papyrus loves experimenting with cooking. So you'll get to try a new flavour of spaghetti every _shin_ -gle time!"

There was another round of laughter between the two monsters. Toriel took deep breaths and tried to steady herself, obviously trying to say something but struggling to hold herself together long enough to get it out.

"D-don't worry though!" She finally managed to get out. "We'll take care of you if you start running a _femur_!"

And then she was immediately doubled over from laughter again.

"Huh? What's going on? What happened while I was gone?"

Papyrus was standing in the doorway to the kitchen with another plate of his unique spaghetti in one hand and the other on his hip. He seemed confused and somewhat irritated at having been excluded from the, uh, recent event. You shrugged at him helplessly, still confused but smiling strangely regardless.

Sans chuckled at the table. "Sorry 'bout that bro. Didn't mean to make you feel _bone-_ ly."

It took a second but then-"WHAT!? You two are throwing around puns AGAIN!?"

"S-sorry, Papyrus! We were just talking with the human about your cooking lessons!"

"Oh, really? What did you say?"

"Why, that you're a _bone_ -fied chef, of course!"

"WHAAAAAT!?"

Papyrus' reaction was so overblown you were worried that he would spill the spaghetti all over the floor in outrage. Or you would have been worried, if you weren't trying to hold in your laughter. Your leg was killing you with how much you were shaking and you were certain that you were red in the face by now. But by some miracle you had kept your composure.

"C'mon bro, no need to _skull_ -k."

"Oh, yes, we were just _ribbing_ you!"

The tall skeleton stomped his boot and went completely red in the face.

"YOU TWO! I SWEAR!" he yelled, "YOU'RE ALWAYS MAKING THESE UNCONTROLLABLE PUNS! WHY DON'T YOU- GIVE IT A _WRIST_?"

You couldn't hold it anymore. You buried your face into the blankets as you burst into laughter.


	9. On Your Feet

Ok, so, been a while, huh? I'm going to upload the next block now, though it won't be day-by-day like before. Again there will be eight chapters in this block, but I've been tired so let me know if there are any breaks in the flow of the narrative or other general mistakes such as spelling and grammar.

ALSO: To make up for the long break I've _doubled_ the length of this Chapter! Aren't you lucky~?

If you wanna know what's been going on with me since the last time I uploaded, you can check the notes at the bottom! Anyway, hope you enjoy!

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If you were going to be honest with yourself, not all of your time spent at Toriel's house was as pleasant as that first day. Sure, there were still a lot of fun moments and laughter, but you always felt as though they ended too abruptly and that the silent moments were more tense than peaceful. Despite the three monster's unique and entertaining personalities you started to develop a creeping sense that something was wrong.

And so, like the helpful little organ it was, your brain immediately latched onto the idea that it was somehow your fault.

 _Of course it's all my fault!_ The irritating part of you rashly declared. _I literally fell into these poor people's lives out of nowhere and inadvertently left them with the cruel decision to either deal with me or let me die. The second option would have saddled them with way too much guilt. They only rescued me out of pity!_

You huffed at the intrusive little thought. Of course they rescued you out of pity! Why should you feel bad about it? The entire reason _you_ had been alone on a freezing cold mountain trying to rescue people was because of pity for others and their lost loved ones. However, you had also done it out of kindness, duty and sympathy. It wasn't as if you were bound to a single emotion at a time. You were sure Toriel and her friends would have felt the same when they rescued you.

 _But what if I suddenly die? Maybe that's what they're scared of! Having tried so hard to help only for me to pass under their care would be soooo much more painful than pretending they never saw anything._

Again you swatted the idea aside. Yes there were some concerns surrounding your health, but you felt that things were going well, considering. As far as you could tell you were healthy enough to not drop dead and your new caretakers knew it too. Sure they could worry themselves thin, what with Papyrus' constant fussing, Toriel's nearly overbearing mothering and Sans' need to keep an eye on seemingly everything, but all the life-threatening parts were over with now, right? With their care and the weak effects of the monster food you were constantly eating you had a clear road to recovery.

Besides, you had a gut feeling that wasn't the reason for the weird tension that hung heavy in the air each day. You trusted your gut better than the whispering anxieties in your head.

 _Then what about what Toriel said?_ Your little thoughts persisted, not willing to give up on the idea that you should feel guilty for something. _Monster wounds are supposed to heal quickly, but their magic hardly has any effect on this kind of stab wound. Maybe they weren't expecting me to be around for so long. Who knows how long it will take my leg to heal? They certainly don't. They probably didn't expect me to be imposing on them like this. I must making them uncomfortable._

That one made you cringe a little. You couldn't help but admit to yourself that you were causing the three monsters stress with your slow recovery. Toriel in particular was straining herself just to keep your pain at bay. No matter how much you and the brothers encouraged her to take breaks exhaustion was an ever-present feature for her.

But that was really all you could blame yourself for. If anything the three seemed to be rather eager to have you around. Toriel and Papyrus basically shared you between themselves, always talking to you or trying to feed you (with varying results. They hadn't been kidding when they told you that Papyrus was still in the, uh, _early_ stages when it came to cooking). In fact, the Toriel had even let slip that the two brothers had moved into the bedroom at the end of the hall. Apparently she had recently finished renovating it and they had claimed it for the express purpose of helping her care for you. You knew it was true because you heard Papyrus bemoaning the fact that he had to share the room because Sans' side was a mess and _no_ he wasn't allowed to dodge cleaning it up by sleeping in the livingroom!

So no, they weren't unhappy to have you around, they weren't fearful of you suddenly dying and they didn't hold any regrets from saving your life.

So what was the problem?

Well, aside from the easily debunked suggestions provided by your unwelcome little anxieties you had one other theory...

It had to do with your attacker.

The interrogation that Sans had held on you once you woke up from your 'operation' had made it clear to you. He hadn't been particularly subtle about his questioning, but you knew now that it had been because of the state you were in. You'd been so seriously out of it from the shock and delirium of the event that you probably wouldn't have understood a word of what he was saying if he'd tried to be subtle. Heck, despite your passing thoughts dismissing him as being blunt and rude, after you'd passed out again you couldn't even remember most of the questions he'd asked. Well, all except for one. That single, important question that had caused him to react so uniquely that it stuck in your mind.

The expression on his face when you had told him about those red eyes... despite the difference in features it had looked uncannily like the expression Toriel wore when she had stared at the knife in your leg. Though Sans' face was harder to decipher due to its rigidness, Toriel had displayed a confusing mix of anguish, fear, anger, loss and more. It was like both of them knew something.

You desperately wanted to ask them about it. What did they know that you didn't? Did they know who your attacker was? You had assumed that those red eyes had belonged to a human, but what if they were a monster instead? Had they escaped from the Underground? Or were they some sort of dangerous gatekeeper?

Of course, you didn't actually ask them those questions. It was more of a vague thought than a definite memory by now, but you were pretty sure you had basically promised Sans to not bring it up. Besides, you had a feeling that if you spoke up you would probably cause even more discomfort than there already was. And so, having reached a conclusion to your train of thought, you simply decided to practice restraint, squashing down your curiosity and keeping your mouth shut whilst riding out the awkward silences whenever they occurred.

Or at least you _tried_.

You kept it up for three days before your nerves began to wear thin. A small part of you had hoped that maybe with some time the weirdness from the monsters would die down or stop irritating you. An even more naive thought dared to suggest that they might just open up on their own and everything would sort itself out. Unfortunately that wasn't the case and you found yourself grinding your teeth out of frustration. If only you had more patience to put up with such awkwardness, but you were simply yourself and, for the sake of your sanity, you had to do _something_.

Not that you were going to break your word! You had no intention of questioning your carers after all the kindness they had shown you. It was just that ever since you had been taken in by them you couldn't do anything except awkwardly join in on their uneasy shenanigans. You didn't want to be rude but you needed to focus on something else- _anything else_ \- before you went mad. Something that could both distract them from their worries and keep you occupied...

"Are you sure about this, my dear?"

You nodded at Toriel, sure that your plan was the best course of action. Unfortunately she did not seem as certain.

She huffed slightly and looked at you with furrowed brows. "I admit I do not know much about human healing processes, but I'm not so certain that you should be walking around just yet."

"I'm not going to!" You assured her. "At least, not yet. I just want to try standing and maybe getting from one chair to another."

Toriel wasn't completely wrong about it being a bit early for you to try walking, you knew you would have to take it slow. It was just that the benefits vastly outweighed the risks. If you could work on your recovery you could remove some of the worry the three monsters had to experience. Working on your leg would also mean a step ( _heh, you were catching on fast!_ ) forward to not having Papyrus carry you from room to room bundled in blankets (which didn't seem to faze him but, admittedly, made you feel like a helpless child, which you hated).

"I think the human is right!" Papyrus suddenly declared. He had looked delighted since the moment you made the suggestion of working on your strength. "Toriel, I know you said that humans need 'sleep' to recover from injuries but I don't believe that constant napping will fix this situation! What the human needs now is training!"

At the mention of training Toriel looked even more doubtful. It was one of those key words that seemed to cause unease whenever it came out of the skeletons mouth; similar words included cooking, spaghetti and, for some reason, vacations.

Again you looked to Toriel, now armed with the knowledge that Papyrus and his puppy-dog eyes were now on your side.

"I know how to pace myself, Toriel. If I don't try moving around at least a bit I'll just get weaker. I promise I won't try to push myself too far or anything. I just wanna be able to walk around again like a normal person. Besides, it might mean that you won't have to use up your magic all the time."

Again Papyrus was agreeing fervently with you. It was a little bit of a cheap tactic to bring up Toriel's magic use in front either of the brothers, but you knew it was for the best. You really did care for her health as much as she cared for yours.

Sighing, she turned to look behind you.

"What do you think, Sans?"

You had to twist from your position on the dining chair you'd been placed on to be able to see the shorter skeleton brother. He'd kept up his habit of placing himself in odd places where you could barely see him. Due to the fact that he was so quiet you never knew he was around until someone addressed him or he decided to throw out a lame (but admittedly well-timed) pun. The other two never seemed to bring it up so you just presumed it was something he did. It had gotten to a point where you simply began to assume he was in the same room as you even when you couldn't see him.

From the awkward angle you were at you could see Sans contemplating his answer. It seemed he was really giving it a lot of thought as he stared blankly out into nothing. Well, not exactly nothing, you felt that he was perhaps staring at you, but he seemed a bit unfocused and you couldn't see him properly enough to judge the angle of his gaze.

"... Sure. But you can't do it outside." He finally replied with a strangely emotionless and borderline commanding tone.

Papyrus was thrilled with the decision and, despite her initial hesitance, Toriel promised to get you something to assist you and politely excused herself to go and hunt it down.

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The 'something' that Toriel had fetched for you was a large black stick. It had been whittled down so that it had no sharp edges to it and worked perfectly as a walking cane. At first you didn't get much use out of it; Toriel or Papyrus would always make sure to hold your hand or shoulder to keep you balanced as you stood, making the slab of wood pointless. However, as time passed, you found yourself able to get some use out of it as you hobbled from one end of the room to the other after only a week and a half.

Monster magic must be have some effect on human wounds after all because there was absolutely _no way_ you could have achieved such a feat under normal circumstances. You had expected that things would be slower and more painful, but the worst symptoms you had were a couple of sporadically twitching muscles and an irritating stiffness that seemed to creep up your body every now and then.

But hey, that was a small price to pay for the ability to move around on your own again. Not only did you have something to keep you occupied but you were able to help with a few chores. You hadn't even noticed how down you were until you found yourself smiling at the fact that you were capable of doing something as simple as standing at the sink to wash dishes. It was amazing how much your mood improved, which in turn made your new friends more relaxed and sincere in their behaviour. You couldn't be more pleased with how well your plan had worked. Who knew that you were secretly such a genius?

So of course it was at exactly that point that things took an uncomfortable turn.

Nearing the end of your second week of learning to walk again you managed to cross the length of Toriel's house and back again twice. Papyrus walked with you the whole way of course, needlessly yelling encouragements at you as though you were a winning race horse.

"You're doing so well!" he happily declared once you had reached the end of the hall yet again, "You've mastered walking around the entirety of the Q- Toriel's home! It won't be long before you can march across the Ruins in one go! And when you do you will have your great mentor Papyrus to guide you!"

"Yeah su- uh. Oh no, wait..." you were about to agree with him before you paused. Normally you would have just gone along with anything the skeleton said, adding fuel to his enthusiasm, but not this time. Papyrus immediately noticed your halted sentence and asked what was wrong.

"It's just... aren't the ruins outside? Like, outside Toriel's house?"

There was a second of confusion before your tall friend caught on.

"Oh no! I completely forgot that you are not allowed outside!" he cried, looking embarrassed at his mistake. But embarrassment was quickly followed by shock as Papyrus let out another " _Oh no!_ " and raised his oven-mitted hands to the sides of his face, "if you aren't allowed outside then I won't be able to show you all of the puzzles I secretly prepared! My congratulations-on-recovering-from-your-human-injury-puzzle-surprise-plan is ruined!"

The sudden revelation seemed to genuinely upset the big guy and you quickly threw out whatever words of encouragement you could to prevent a dramatic meltdown.

"H-hey, it's okay!" You said, awkwardly patting at his arm while still clutching at your walking stick so that you wouldn't fall, "I'm sure we could just ask about it. Maybe now that I can walk better Toriel and Sans will change their minds?"

"You are absolutely right!" Papyrus suddenly declared, standing upright and proud once more (you swore that the guy's emotional state was like a rubber band), "All we have to do is ask nicely! Do not fret, human! I, the great Papyrus, will have this dilemma sorted out immediately! And then... ! You will be surprised by the best puzzles you have ever had the pleasure to be surprised by!"

And with that he bolted back down the hallway while laughing his goofy laugh of _Nyeh heh heh!_ , leaving you smiling stupidly in his wake. You slowly ambled back down the hall with your walking stick in hand. You could hear Papyrus talking down in the living room but not the voices of the other two monsters he was conversing with. You made it within earshot of the conversation just in time to hear a distraught "But why _noooot_?"

"'Cause I said." Sans' tone was unusually clipped and it kind of shocked you. It wasn't as if he was being mean, just... dismissive. Maybe you wouldn't have been so surprised to hear it if it was aimed your way, but he was talking to Papyrus and that was what made it so unusual. Though he generally didn't say much to you, he _always_ took the time to talk and joke casually at his brother.

"That's not a very good reason!" Papyrus argued.

"Still a reason." Sans countered.

You finally cleared the hallway and entered into the warm living room to see all three of your monster carers dotted around the room. Sans was sitting on a dining chair that he had twisted around so that it faced towards the hallway you were emerging from. Toriel looked as though she had walked in from the kitchen, a dish rag still held in her hand. Papyrus was standing in front of you, hands on his hips and looking indignant. They all looked at you when you entered and you felt yourself twitch, or, wait, no, that might have been your leg again.

"U-uh, hey? What's up?" you tried to ask casually, both to mask your nerves and the sudden stiffness that was making your body ache.

"Ah... you see, my dear-"

"Sans said you aren't allowed to leave!" Papyrus interrupted. You stared at him in shock, not because of the news that you weren't allowed outside, but because you couldn't believe that Papyrus- the great, innocent, _courteous_ , Papyrus- had cut off Toriel. It seemed that he had realised it too as you watched a hint of embarrassment cross his face before it was pushed back and he let out a childish huff.

"Y-you see... my dear..." Toriel continued cautiously, eyes occasionally flicking to the skeleton at your side who had crossed his arms over his chest in a desperate attempt to not look guilty about his small outburst, "we simply don't think you are well enough to leave the house just yet. The Ruins can be quite dangerous, even for a healthy human."

"Ok."

Your simple answer caused a much bigger reaction than you had expected as Toriel and Sans stared at you and Papyrus cried out in disappointed confusion. You didn't really care what their exact reactions were, however, since your leg was killing you. You felt like you were sweating bullets and your vision was going a bit strange at the edges.

"You're right, 'm not recovered," you explained, trying to get the words out faster as your body continued to stiffen, "so m-maybe some other time? C-can I... sitdownnow?"

You practically wheezed out the last few words as you began to tip over. Luckily with Papyrus right beside you, you didn't fall far and he quickly plopped you into your usual spot on Toriel's chair. He made worried noises and you thought you could hear him ask what was wrong, but all you could focus on was how painfully _tight_ your body felt. Vaguely, you recognised that there was someone else standing over you, but you couldn't concentrate enough to care.

After a moment your head cleared and your body relaxed again. Looking up you could see both Toriel and Papyrus fussing over you as usual, but this time they both had expressions of deep worry on their faces.

"Uuh... h-hey?" You weakly echoed the same casual tone from when you had entered the room and, like before, it failed to make you seem casual at all. For some reason you felt short on breath.

"Human, are you okay!?" Papyrus immediately asked. God, had his voice always been that loud?

"Yeah, 'm fine." You mumbled, sinking furthur into the chair. "Tired. Overdid it..."

"Oh my, you gave us quite the fright! You must be careful not to overwork yourself again."

You gave a tiny nod as Toriel gently chided you. Beside her Papyrus wrung his mittened hands and stared at the floor. You thought you could hear him mumbling something the red scarf he was wearing but internally huffed at the thought. Of course he wasn't mumbling! Papyrus' vocal range only existed between the volumes of loud and ear-shattering. You really _must_ be tired.

As you watched he finally lifted his head and looked to your right. Following his gaze you realised that he was looking at Sans who was... standing right beside you? Wow, he hadn't come this close since that one time you woke up delirious and he'd given you a cookie. He even had one hand rested on the armrest of the chair you were sunk into.

"I'm sorry, Sans. You were right. I thought you were just being... controlling... again..."

Maybe you would have to amend that thought about Papyrus not being able to be quiet, even if his volume was still within the range of a normal speaking voice. You'd never thought you would see the big guy look so honestly ashamed. Even Sans seemed shocked as he stood staring at his brother before letting out a quiet "don't worry 'bout it."

"And I'm sorry for interrupting, Toriel." The apologetic skeleton continued, "But...! I will make it up to you! Starting from now! By going to get blankets for the human! That is what I am going to do!"

And so, yet again, Papyrus sprinted down the hallway and out of your sight.

But this time he wasn't laughing.

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If you're reading these notes, you're a curious person!

I promise that nothing bad has caused this long break between chapters; it's exactly the opposite! You see, I _finally_ got employed! Wow! So that means I've had a lot less time on my hands. Also, since my endurance is pretty awful, I've basically come home every day and gone straight to sleep! Most days I can't even bare to glance at my computer...

I'm really throwing everything I have into my job, but I'm still going to finish this story. Even if it _kills me_. It's always so disappointing to see an abandoned fic, so I won't let that happen here. I have an ending and a muddy middle. I can do this! I'm actually Determined! (Though generally I consider myself to be more of the Persevering type... ha.)


	10. Prattling with Papyrus

Just to let you know, I hated writing this Chapter. It never seemed to come out right and in the process of doing a minor edit I basically ended up cutting out a huge chunk, rewriting it and then rewriting completely different chapters because of it! I really need to stop myself sometimes. After all, something is usually better than nothing. Right?

... Right?

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You watched Papyrus dart about your room from your spot on the bed. It was funny how you had become so used to the sight of the tall skeleton running around and fretting over you. In fact it seemed that he spent more time with you than Toriel did recently. The days where you would wake up to her accidentally dozing in a chair at your side or re-bandaging your leg seemed to be past now that you no longer required her constant healing magic.

But that didn't mean you were in the clear just yet. The cane Toriel had given you was getting a lot of use as you still couldn't walk unassisted. Your muscles often felt tight and sore which either stemmed from overexerting yourself or not exerting yourself enough; it was frustrating not knowing which was which. On top of that you sometimes had sporadic fits of pain, but thankfully it was nothing too bad. At least it was nothing like last week when you had suddenly locked up and almost passed out in the middle of the almost-argument Papyrus had accidentally sparked.

Your train of thought brought you back to the eccentric skeleton who was currently riffling through your closet (your closet, your bedroom, when exactly had you started referring to these things as yours?) and arranging coathangers upon coathangers of new clothes. Ever since the aborted discussion over whether or not you were prepared to leave Toriel's house he had redoubled his efforts of 'Mom-ing' you. This meant that you were almost constantly wrapped in blankets, buried under piles of toys and activities or, if you were unlucky, offered the chance to taste-test 'secret' recipes. Part of it was endearing. Part of it was annoying.

Part of it was... concerning.

You couldn't take it anymore. You had to speak up.

"So, uh, Papyrus...?"

"Yes, human?" was the immediate response.

You paused for a moment. Oh man, you hadn't even thought about what you were going to say. That was unlike you. You actually prided yourself on not being silly enough to say anything out loud without thinking it through first, but now you had started a conversation without really knowing how to continue it. You grumpily chalked your lapse in thought up to your various aches and pains. Perhaps you should have asked Toriel to keep using her healing magic on you for a couple more weeks? No, that was selfish; you were pretty much healed leg wise. You could handle a little bit of muscle tension if it meant the kindly woman could finally take a break.

Blinking you realised that Papyrus had stopped banging around in the (your) closet and was eagerly waiting for you to continue speaking. You quickly shook yourself out of your thoughts and tried to pick out your next words as fast as possible.

"Do you think... it's okay for me to go outside now?"

You knew you had said the wrong thing as soon as you watched the edges of the skeleton's bright smile die a little at the edges. Damnit, that hadn't been your intention at all. What had you been thinking to stick your foot in your mouth like that? Maybe because the idea had excited him so much last time you thought it could work again this time. But there was a difference between now and last time. Ugh, stupid! You just wanted the poor guy to stop buzzing about you in circles and deal with what was really bothering him.

"I'm very sorry, human, but you're not well enough to go outside just yet." Papyrus said regretfully followed by a mumble that sounded like 'according to Sans and Toriel'.

You would be lying if you said part of you didn't feel upset that there was still no chance of you going outside just yet. But that wasn't why you had started up the conversation, so you tried a new approach.

"Are you still upset about what happened last time?"

That pushed the direction of the conversation closer to what you wanted.

"Last time? Oh no! I am not upset in the slightest! At all!" After a month of getting to know everyone's mannerisms you could tell when your tall friend was lying or stressed. It was a subtle difference from his shouting when he was excited, but you had noticed he always put unnecessary emphasis on his words when he was denying something. All you had to do was give him a blank look and-"I just..." There it is. "I want to be absolutely certain that you are one hundred percent prepared when we go out so that nothing can possibly go wrong!"

You hummed, "You think something will go wrong?"

"Well... no, not me! I have complete confidence in you, human! I am sure that you would do wonderfully outside!" His unwavering certainty made you smile. You'd never would have thought that someone could hold such complete and unquestionable faith in you. But before you could properly appreciate it the corners of Papyrus' smile were quirking down into something more strained and worried again. "It is just that my brother does not seem to share this confidence."

"Is he really that controlling?"

It always concerned and intrigued you how a skeleton could somehow have its eyes bulge out of its sockets. It was a given that Papyrus was actually a skeleton monster and therefore made of magic, but still! He had empty sockets one moment and ballooning cartoonish eyes the next! How did that work?

"C-Controlling!?" the suddenly appalled skeleton exclaimed, "Human! Where did you get such an idea!?"

"From... you?" you hesitantly asked. You had heard him correctly last time, hadn't you?

"O-oh. I did say that..." Papyrus admitted, sweating and looking ashamed at the memory. "That was, um..."

You watched him fiddle with the ends of his orange mitts as he searched for an explanation. The room was silent for a while as neither of you spoke, the unfinished sentence hanging abandoned in the air. Finally, with a surprisingly anguished sigh, Papyrus dropped his hands back to his sides.

"I did not mean to say that. Sans is not actually that controlling. He has just been a little... different, lately. And by lately I mean for a while." The quiet tone of the admission was just as surprising to hear now as it had been the first time. It just didn't seem to fit in with the rest of the skeleton's personality and a part of you twisted in discomfort whenever you heard it. It felt too similar to the awkward siences that often pervaded Toriel's otherwise happy house. Something about it just wasn't right. You didn't understand why it bothered you as much as it did, you just felt it was... unnatural. As though it wasn't supposed to exist.

"However! That is not a problem!" Papyrus immediately bounced back into more natural territory, "For I, the Great Papyrus, am well versed in brotherly ways! In fact, I have been a brother for as long as I can remember! I am certain that I can bring Sans around again! With my specialised training you will be a proffessional at walking, much like myself! And then there will be no room for fretting over 'what if's'!"

"Yeah, it'll go great!" You eagerly agreed, ready to drop the strange discomfort of the previous conversation like a hot potato, "You're the best personal trainer I've ever had!"

"Wowie, really!? Undyne would be so proud of me if she heard that!"

"Hmm? Who's that?"

"Undyne is my trainer!" Papyrus declared proudly, enthusiasm lighting up his face and making some kind of sparkling magic light up his eye sockets, "She is a very important person! Head of the Royal Guard, in fact!"

Well, that was news to you. Apart from the three monsters caring for you, you hadn't met anyone else. Admittedly that was kind of hard to do when you were still so wobbly on your feet, but they never even mentioned other monsters to you. In fact, none of them talked to you about what the Underground was like outside of the house and for some strange reason you had never asked. Even Papyrus didn't really seem to bring it up and he was naturally chatty! Perhaps because he was so focussed on the whole 'Mom' thing? But hey, even if you had forgotten to ask about it the opportunity was there now. You might even learn something new about how monsters and the underground worked!

You re-adjusted yourself to lean your cheek on the knee of your good leg and smiled. "I've never heard of the Royal Guard." But it sounds pretty cool and important and I'd like to hear everything about it!

"WHAT!? BUT EVERYONE IN THE ROYAL GUARD IS SO COOL AND IMPORTANT!" That's exactly what I- "HOW COULD YOU NOT KNOW ABOUT IT!?"

There was a beat of silence.

"Oops, nevermind, I forgot that you have been... indisposed? ANYWAY!" Quickly, Papyrus posed proudly, worn orange-red cape fluttering (you were almost entirely certain that he always wore it should he need to dramatically pose, much like how he wore oven mitts all the time in case of 'spontaneous cooking sessions'), "The Royal Guard is composed of only the COOLEST, STRONGEST and MOST POPULAR monsters in the Underground!"

"Really?" You egged him on, smiling in amusement and interest.

"REALLY!" Papyrus confirmed gleefully, "Every monster likes, loves and looks up to the monsters in the Royal Guard! To be a Guard is to be admired by everyone you meet! As well as everyone you don't meet!"

You giggled to yourself as magical stars lit up in Papyrus' sockets. You could tell that this was a subject near and dear to the skeleton's heart (or whatever equivalent he had). He was maybe three seconds away from letting out a dreamy sigh.

No sooner than you'd had the thought, Papyrus was staring off into the far distance with the endearing look of whimsy on his face, "It is my greatest dream to become a Guard! Imagine; THE GREAT PAPYRUS, THE VERY POPULAR, VERY HANDSOME, VERY ADMIRED ROYAL GUARDSMAN!"

"That sound's like a pretty awesome club, Papyrus! I bet it's really hard to get into."

"Oh, most certainly! One must prove themselves greatly in order to become one of the Royal Guard! Only the King and Captain Undyne may choose new recruits! Unfortunately Undyne has been on vacation for about four months now and the King has... retired? I am not quite sure."

You raised an eyebrow at that. Could a King retire? Maybe he believed he was too old for his role and passed his royal duties onto his children?

You were about to raise these questions when Papyrus interrupted you again. "Nonetheless, the Royal Guard is currently not recruiting at the moment. In fact, it has been surprisingly disorganised as of late! Barely anyone does the required patrols and reports on human activity has grinded to a halt because there is nowhere for the paperwork to go!" It seemed the thought rather annoyed the monster as he stood with his arms crossed and huffed. "I was perhaps the only one to keep on top of my sentry duties! And I am not even an official Royal Guard yet! It was only by Sans' insistence that I stopped. Normally I would not have allowed him to coerce me into idleness but- w-well, I believed that it was the best course of action to take at the time! And besides, if I had not done so then Toriel and yourself would have never met the Great Papyrus! What a depressing thought! I could not imagine how dull and unfulfilling your lives would have been!"

You nodded along with the last statement out of politeness but your focus was elsewhere. Something was bugging you about what the tall skeleton had said and you needed clarification.

"You guys have reports for human activity? Is that, like, information you've collected from the top of the mountain or something?" Your imagination conjured up some kind of old fashioned radio system with blips to show where humans could be on the mountain, like in a submarine.

"Oh no," Papyrus shook his head, "the reports are only for human activity in the Underground! Though more often than not they don't actually report anything. Humans are very rare here!"

"Have- have I been reported? What do you guys do with that... information?"

Your position on the bed suddenly felt very uncomfortable. In fact, you felt uncomfortable in general. Wasn't this meant to be a light-hearted, educational discussion? Why was there a feeling of dread creeping up your back?

"Well, when a human is reported they are captured and brought before the King of all Monsters! After that, well, I'm not so clear on the details!"

You were shocked at how casual Papyrus was being, as if what he had just said wasn't the most threatening sounding thing that you, a human, could possibly hear. Your sudden alarm went unnoticed as he continued to talk, musing something about being offered tea, "But since Asgore is gone now I guess someone else would have to offer it? Oh well, it doesn't matter since Undyne hasn't come back from vacation yet. And if Undyne is not back there is no one to read the reports! Besides! I am quite enjoying living with Toriel and learning all the 'Mom-ing' skills she has! Her cooking skills are quite unique! I'll have to introduce her to Undyne when she returns! She used to train me in the culinary arts, though in a very different fashion than Toriel and-"

"Hey."

Papyrus stopped mid rant at your quiet interruption. There was still a slight smile on your face even though you knew your eyes didn't reflect it. You knew that the poor guy probably hadn't meant anything by what he'd revealed to you, but your head was now swimming with dark thoughts and anxieties thanks to the new information. You hadn't intended for the conversation to go the way it did. You needed a moment to think. Alone.

"I'm gonna go talk to Toriel now. About the cooking, actually." You lied.

"Oh, I see," Papyrus nodded, "you wish to learn her great culinary secrets too! Though I must warn you, human! I have quite profound skills in the kitchen both from prior experience and natural talent! You will not easily surpass me, even with the assistance of th- Toriel!"

"Ha ha. Well, I can still try, right?"

Your own laugh sounded a bit hollow to your ears, but what was important was that it convinced Papyrus. He didn't go with you due to the clothes he had yet to hang in the wardrobe and you were secretly grateful for it. As you slowly made your way out of the bedroom with the help of your cane, you tried to appear as calm as possible.

All of that disappeared the moment you had entered the empty hallway. With your bedroom door closed and no one else in sight you leaned against a wall and let out a slow and silent breath. You had to process what you had learned, which meant you couldn't allow yourself to panic. But that was rather hard with what you had just unintentionally learned.

It must be so nice being Papyrus, always seeing a positive scenario where others like yourself could only imagine one hundred ways that things could go horribly wrong. Did he really believe that a human that was captured by guards and brought before the king of monsters would be served tea? Yes. Yes he did. You could say it with complete certainty having known him for about a month. But did you believe it?

Hell. No.

"The barrier that the humans of the past created prevents anyone from leaving the underground..."

"It would take seven human Souls to break the barrier..."

You remembered Toriel's words clearly even though the explanation had been extremely brief. Humans created a magical barrier to seal monsters in the Underground after the war. Human Souls were needed to break said barrier. The Royal Guard was required to make reports on any human activity in the Underground even though there were never any humans. All humans found were brought before the King. How could any of that add up to something good?

You shook your head, trying to clear out the fog of panic that was trying to build up. You didn't have all the facts. If 'capturing' a human was a thing, then surely you didn't have to be dead to have your soul be used against the barrier, right? Toriel had said something about monster souls only being revealed after death, so maybe that meant that human souls worked differently? Maybe you wouldn't be killed. Or maybe the removal of your soul would actually cause you to die. Maybe it could be drawn from you with magic and used on the barrier, which could also kill you. It seemed possible; monsters were talented with souls. Toriel had said so, hadn't she? But that wasn't the worst of it.

Amongst the swirling ideas that were springing out from the darkest corners of your mind, one train thought stood out in particular: There is no one around to read the reports, but what happens when there finally is? Have I already been reported? Did... did Toriel, Sans and Papyrus... report me to them already?

You didn't want to delve into those thoughts. You had been with these people for over a month. They wouldn't do that to you, would they? Papyrus at least wouldn't wish any harm on you, though the way he spoke about the Royal Guard could make you believe he might report you without understanding the consequences. Toriel had exhausted herself just trying to keep your pain at bay; that wasn't just to gain your trust, was it? Sans was... Sans. Honestly you still weren't sure where you and that guy stood with each other, but he had helped with your wounds and that had to mean he wasn't that bad. Together they saved your life!

But did they really? Your thoughts persisted, They're the ones who would know how souls work, not me. Maybe they need a live human. Maybe that's why Toriel's explanation was so cut and dry. Maybe that's the real reason I'm not allowed outside, why one of them always has an eye on me, why the air always feels so tense even though I tried so hard to fix it. Maybe they knew this all along and they've been waiting for the moment when they can finally-

No! You couldn't think that! That couldn't- you didn't want it to be true! You trusted the three monsters pretty much from the moment you had met them. There was just something that seemed so safe about them even with their strange quirks.

But why? Why do I trust them so much when I doubt literally everything else? Why am I being so obedient with them? Why haven't I thought about getting back to the surface lately? I disappeared in the middle of a search party for god's sake! Why am I not more upset about being kept indoors? I should be thinking about the big picture more than just the emotional tension between three monsters! I don't even know what's ten feet outside the front door! I've never seen any other part of the underground or other monsters or the barrier! And what if everything I've been told about that is a lie? I don't know anything about magic! What if I wasn't just being healed but brainwashed too!? Is that why I haven't thought about trying to leave for a whole month!?

You pushed your palms into your forehead and tried to stop your thoughts from spiralling further and further into paranoid territory. But it seemed impossible. You had no proof to dismiss all of the thoughts you were having. You couldn't even ask about it directly. You doubted that Papyrus was capable of it but if Toriel or Sans had ever lied to you there was no way to know. That last thought about brainwashing hit pretty hard too. As crazy as it sounded it wasn't far off from the idea of a bipedal goat woman and two skeletons living beneath a mountain without anyone knowing about it.

What were you supposed to do now? There was no way you could completely trust the three monsters as long as you were filled with these kinds of doubts. You had to do something about it! But you couldn't let any of them know that you were doing something just in case your horrifying little thoughts were true. You knew what you had to do but you felt so bad about it. After all, you had just been talking with Papyrus about trying to earn his brother's (and probably Toriel's) trust. But damnit it couldn't be helped. You needed to do this.

You needed to investigate outside the house. Alone.


	11. Midnight Walks

Funny thing, I'm most productive at midnight. I'm currently uploading this at 11:30 while also writing up a future Chapter.

And another Note: I'll be going back through my previously uploaded Chapters when I upload Chapter 12 (whenever that may be). There wont be any major changes to the story so far, I'd just like to pick out any spelling errors and maybe delete past Author's Notes (including this one).

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You stood in the middle of the house with your cane in one hand and your flashlight in the other. Toriel had left the light in a draw in your bedside table with a few other things she had picked up when you were found. You had gathered it all up in preparation to leave. Everything else was left as it was because taking anything your caretakers had given you seemed like stealing. The only thing you had on you that wasn't already yours when you fell were the pants you wore. Even that was only because Toriel had cut through your last pair to get a clear view or your injury, throwing the torn and blood soaked cloth away after.

It was somewhere around the middle of the night, or at least you assumed it. The house lights were off and if you looked out the windows by the door you could see the brick and earth walls outside looking darker than usual. Everyone was asleep in their respective rooms. Everyone except for you.

You stared at the front door, knowing what you had to do but not entirely willing to do it. Despite the feeling of wanting to go back to the surface, despite the fact that you were the only human around, despite the fact that you were probably considered a missing person by the authorities… you felt quite comfortable exactly where you were.

As you had been getting dressed in your old clothes you had realised just how much stuff you had accumulated. The useless stuffed toys and blankets from Papyrus, the knitted scarves and sewn clothes from Toriel… And hadn't your room seemed more fitting for a child when you had first arrived? You weren't sure when it had happened but somewhere along the way something had been subtly changed so that it fit your own personality better.

All in all you- you didn't want to leave that badly. In fact you felt guilty about it! It felt so cruel to just leave after everything that the trio had done for you.

 _That's probably the brainwashing talking._

You scoffed quietly. What an inane little thought. Granted you couldn't exactly _disprove_ it, but the fact that you were standing where you were, about to do what you were, at least proved that if there was any brainwashing going on it was pretty poor.

You took a breath and tucked the torch under your arm as you reached for the door handle. You were going to go outside and find answers. Just go outside in the dark of the night and find something to prove or disprove the anxieties that were running around in your poor head. You had to do this. You _had_ to.

… Didn't you?

The longer you stood at the door, the more you began to see horrible flaws in your plan. Say you went outside, what would you do then? Did you even really know what you were looking for? Maybe if you found that barrier thing you could figure something out? There might be a way around it that didn't involve murder... Maybe. You weren't really sure. And anyway, if that _was_ going to be your goal then how were you supposed to know what it looked like? Would it be obvious or invisible? Was it nearby or far away? More importantly; was it far away by _your_ standards? You still had trouble walking so crossing a large distance by yourself sounded like a bad idea.

And that wasn't even getting started on the fact that there could be Royal Guards out there doing night patrols. Granted, Papyrus had said they were being pretty lax as of late, but it wasn't much comfort. You could barely manage walking on your own so running wasn't really a possibility. If even one guard saw you, heck, if _any_ kind of monster saw you, that'd be it. Game over. You'd be 'sipping tea' with the King before you knew it.

 _I shouldn't be dwelling on this stuff, I have to be brave!_ You thought to yourself. _I managed to climb a haunted mountain for a search party so I can manage this too!_

As encouraging as the thought should have been you felt dread curling up in your gut. The last time you had forced yourself to be brave had been a horrible mistake. Sure, the thoughts about ghosts had been irrational at the time, but if you hadn't repressed your fear in order to push forward then you never have even been in this situation!

Red eyes filled your thoughts as you stared blankly at the door. They could still be out there. People had been disappearing on the mountain for about three months before you fell. You wouldn't stand a chance against your attacker in your current state. Sure, Toriel had taken the knife they had stabbed you with away while you were unconscious, but knives weren't very rare. If the person who had attacked you was still out there then they probably had a new weapon by now. That thought alone somehow scared you more than the idea of having your soul taken.

Your hand fell from the door and you leaned your forehead against the cold wood instead. Maybe your plan hadn't been such a good idea after all. You obviously hadn't thought it through. But how could you just sit around and do nothing? Sure, you could be patient sometimes, but there was a difference between waiting and giving up. You were standing around, ready to go. If you weren't going to leave the house tonight then you would have to find something else to do until you had a better plan.

You slowly spun around and looked at the rest of the darkened house. The living room and kitchen were off to your left, eerily cold and lifeless with the fireplace being empty as it was. To your right was a single hallway connecting the other rooms of the house; bedrooms on the left, storage and such on the right. And then, directly in front of you, a staircase; probably leading to the basement. You didn't know much about it other than Toriel said you shouldn't wander down there.

Well. You knew what you were gonna do now.

It was difficult preventing your cane from clacking too loudly on the wooden floor as you made your way down the stairs. It felt like every step and shift of your weight was loud enough to wake the whole house. You only realised you were holding your breath as you reached the bottom of the stairs. Breathing out slowly you stared ahead. There was nothing but darkness ahead of you and you checked to see if you were far enough into the basement to justify turning on your flashlight. As soon as you were sure the light wouldn't reach back upstairs you switched it on.

What you saw before you was a really long hall. It was about as wide as the hallway back in the main house, though quite a bit taller and made of deep purple brick. It didn't just fail to match the upstairs wallpaper, it failed to match the warmth of the house as well. If you didn't have a stick in one hand and a torch in the other you would have crossed your arms out of reflex to keep the sudden chill at bay.

The cold only got worse the longer you walked. You shivered, but not from the temperature alone. The hallway was so _long_. Just what kind of a basement was this? You hit a wall and turned left and the hallway just kept on going! Who designed this? What was the purpose of this weird tunnel-like hallway?

Your legs were a bit sore by the time you finally reached the end. With all the preparing, standing around and walking you'd been doing you were going to hit your limit sometime soon. It was a good thing you decided to hold back on leaving the house; you never would have made it far.

Shining your torch up at the giant door in front of you, you found that it was the same deep purple as the rest of the not-basement. Staring at the impressions on the stone you suddenly realised that they were the same markings that Toriel wore on her clothes. Three triangles on the bottom and a winged circle flying up above. You had no idea what it meant but you did wonder if it was some kind of religious symbol or monster emblem.

Getting yourself into position you got ready to open the door. With all the strength you could muster you began trying to move the giant stone slabs. There was a tiny little _skreee_ before your bad leg almost gave way and you quietly swore to yourself. No. Nope. There was no way you were moving this thing. Not in your condition. You'd barely moved the damned stone blocks a few centimeters and you had almost fallen to the ground in pain. As your body began to twitch uncomfortably from the effort you had just exerted you decided to retire for the night. It would be okay if you held off for now. Maybe next time you would-

"What're you doing?"

You almost hurt yourself again with how hard you jumped. You had a deathgrip on your cane and flashlight as you turned around to face the voice behind you.

Standing in the middle of the hallway, stock still, was Sans. He had his head tilted down in a way so that you couldn't tell if the lights of his eyes were gone or if it was just the angle that prevented you from seeing them. The tone of his voice suggested it could be the former. You had already known that the guy had an uncanny ability for appearing silently in whatever room you happened to be in, but you had really hoped that that wouldn't happen to you while you were investigating. Well, that was just your rotten luck, huh?

For a moment you were actually pretty scared. For some reason Sans looked even more like a skeleton than usual, which sounded silly but was really creeping you out. Maybe it was because of how still he was being. Sans wasn't known for moving about as much as his brother but he usually had signs of life about him to remind you that he was a person, not a walking symbol of death.

Still, maybe you could turn things around for yourself. There was nothing that you could do about the situation now that you were already in it, so why not try to use it to your advantage? You'd never gotten very far when trying to ask about the Underground directly and you had always felt wrong trying to push for more info in case you accidentally hit a nerve and sparked conflict. You didn't know why you had prioritised the monster's feelings over your justified curiosity, you had just done it. But now you had already put your foot in it you might as well take it as far as possible.

"What kind of basement is this?" you asked as you silently prayed for your heart stopped beating so hard. Despite your internal bravado you were still intimidated. Sure, you were used to Sans seemingly popping out of nowhere, but this was the first time he'd appeared while you were breaking a rule. Granted it was also the first time you were doing that too, but you didn't know if he knew that.

"The kind that leads outside." Sans replied curtly, "You tryin' to go?"

"Maybe." _Not really._ But Sans didn't have to know that you were just about to give up and head back. This could be your chance to finally learn something about why you were kept indoors. Whatever the short skeleton said next could either be the truth or the giveaway for a lie.

"Wouldn't do that if I were you, pal. 'S dangerous for humans out there."

"Really?"

"Yes."

Sans snapped his head up to lock eyes with you. He looked pretty upset. An angry upset but also kind of worried... or something along those lines. Jeez, it was so hard to read his expressions when he had that smile permanently glued to his face. It kind of messed with whatever emotions he was trying to portray to you.

"I've been here for a month." You said plainly, trying not to let your nerves show as you tried to push for more than a sentence at a time.

It seemed that Sans was having none of it though. His swatted your excuse away with a simple, "Yeah, so what?"

You glared hard, refusing to respond to such vapid responses. Sans was being vague and you didn't like it. You wanted him to just come out and say what was so dangerous out there and why. Was it the guards? Was it other monsters? Natural dangers like rock slides? Creepy red-eyed murderers? You wanted details. You wanted the truth! If any of the three monsters _really_ wanted to keep you safe they could just tell you about the dangers outright, couldn't they? Why did they need to keep such important information hidden from you? Why couldn't they just spill it instead of putting up an act like everything was fine!? All you wanted was to chase all of the stupid little doubts out of your head so you could just _trust_ them all again!

After several seconds of you silently staring him down, Sans chuckled and stared at the wall next to him.

"Tori was right. This ain't easy." He laughed humorlessly again as he closed his eyes. When he opened them again he looked at you and spoke with both clarity and despondency, "If you leave you'll break what's left of their hearts."

His words didn't answer any of your questions but you were left shocked at the amount of emotion that was contained in them. The way he spoke and looked at you made it clear that Sans was practically begging you to stay, obviously not for himself but for Toriel and his brother. Part of you wanted to just quit right there and say ' _Ah, forget it. I wasn't really trying to leave anyway_ '. But then there was another part of you, the realistic part, and it demanded that it be recognised.

"I… can't just stay here. I have to leave eventually..."

The hardest part of saying that was that unlike the half-truths you had been shooting out before to prompt Sans into speaking, this was entirely true. As much as you liked the monsters and as much as you felt comfortable in their house it still wasn't your real home. You could see yourself staying with them until you were completely healed, then maybe a little while longer as you tried to learn more about that barrier thing, but that was it. You belonged somewhere else and there were probably people worried about you. People who, for a while now, had probably been grieving over you. But the way that Sans was asking you to stay didn't seem like it had room for those kinds of plans.

"I see. Can't convince ya with words, huh?" Sans sighed. He'd obviously seen your expression and known that, despite how you felt about it, you really meant what you said. "I didn't wanna- I mean, I wouldn't usually put in the effort for this kinda thing but Tori- and you've been great for my bro, too. Somethin' he can concentrate on so he doesn't have to think about stuff he shouldn't."

You stared at the skeleton in confusion. This was honestly the most he'd said to you at one time for a whole month and while you were grateful for that fact you didn't really understand a single word. Sans wouldn't look at you as he continued to speak, voice getting closer and closer to an emotionless whisper. He paused for a moment, perhaps lost in thought. You tried to twist your head forward to catch a glimpse of his face but your flashlight was too weak and you didn't want to move any closer to him. After a moment you managed to catch him muttering something.

"No, I can't let it happen again." He said, seemingly more to himself than to you, "This time… I can't mess up by sittin' around and doin' nothin'"

It was then that Sans made an almost unnoticeable gesture with his left hand. Suddenly the hallway was even darker than before. Your flashlight didn't seem to cut through it anymore even though it was definitely still on. Despite the darkness you could see yourself and Sans just fine. The strangest thing was that your colours had been muted. The only thing that caught your eye in your newly grayscaled world was a cartoonish magenta heart that suddenly appeared from inside of your chest.

You yelped in surprise at whatever the heck had just happened. Sans however seemed completely unfazed by it, staring at the floor rather than at you.

"See that heart?" He said, "That's your Soul. It's everythin' that you are. If you try to leave, 'specially out this door, you _will_ be killed for it."

Your eyes darted between the heart the skeleton in front of you. This really wasn't the way you had expected things to go! You suddenly felt more vulnerable than you ever had; and that was quite the achievement considering that just a moment ago you were a weak, hobbling mess who couldn't even open a door. Now you were a weak, hobbling mess leaning up against said door and shaking because your freaking _Soul_ was floating out in the open.

"Sorry 'bout this but 'm not gonna tell my bro that another one of his friends 'went on vacation'. I can't… You havta understand. I gotta make ya understand even if- _ugh, damn it_."

You pressed yourself against the cold stone behind you, unsure of what to say. Sans was mumbling and hissing at himself and it kind of made him look a little unhinged. You wanted to back up further but there just wasn't enough space so you ended up with your back pressed hard against the stone door. A small, surprised sound escaped you as you realised the floating heart came towards you the more you tried to back up. Just as you were about to react and push it away, the heart moved again in the direction you would have pushed it.

 _I can control it?_ You thought, somehow surprised despite having just been told that the little heart was a real part of you. You were going to investigate your little discovery further when a small white bone materialised and smacked into your Soul from the left.

"Ah _ff-_! Wh- huh?" You coiled back in pain and surprise, though mostly surprise. The bone disappeared the moment that it had hit the little heart but you had felt a sharp stab of pain when it made contact. The pain didn't last for more than a second and wasn't much worse than stubbing your toe, but it left you feeling unnaturally anxious.

You looked up at Sans as though he might provide you with an answer. The short skeleton still wasn't looking at you. He'd picked a spot on the ground to stare at emotionlessly as he coldly explained what had happened.

"Felt that, huh? Heh… That's what it's like to have your Soul attacked with magic. And that's how you'll be killed by other monsters if ya leave here."

You didn't know how to respond to that information. It kind of explained how monsters could have stood a chance fighting against humans in the past; you knew from first hand experience that magic had very little effect on physical bodies. But why was _this_ the way that Sans had to tell you? By actually _attacking_ you?

"Okay, I get it! People out there will kill me! I kinda guessed!" You snapped.

"Really? 'Cause I don't think you actually get it at all."

Another bone materialised and flew towards your Soul. Understanding that there was another round of pain in your future if you let it connect, you reached forward to cover the heart or pull it out of the way. However, like before, your Soul moved in tune with your thoughts before you could even act on them. It quickly glided out of the way of the incoming attack and you released a tiny breath- Only to gasp it in sharply again as a different magical bone hurtled in from your right and smacked your Soul right in the middle.

"Stop that!" you yelled, irritated. Again the pain hadn't lasted long and wasn't the worst thing you'd ever felt, but it still left you with a worry that sat deep within you. You tried to pinpoint the feeling but it seemed to emanate from every fiber of your being. Confused, you looked to the magenta heart to see if it had anything to do with the strange anxiety you were experiencing. As you stared something seemed to become clear within it: numbers.

HP 23/25

You could picture the numbers more in your mind as opposed to actually seeing them with your eyes, but they were definitely there. Hadn't Toriel said that it was only monsters that had HP? But the heart was your Soul, so that meant that you had twenty five total health. Well, twenty three since you had been attacked twice. What would happen if you suddenly hit zero? It wasn't too hard a leap to say that the feeling of dread that was slowly creeping up on you was thanks to your newly missing health points.

"Y'know, Paps is right about me, I'm pretty lazy," Sans said, still pretending to be enraptured with the floor, "never really liked training. Of all the monsters in the Underground I do the least damage in a straight battle. Point is, some people can do six, seven, a whole lot more points of damage." He paused for a moment as you said nothing before sighing, "Guess you wouldn't actually understand without experiencin' just what that's like…"

And just like that, Sans summoned more magic bones to attack. But this time it wasn't just one or two, no, it was an entire wave. You managed to move your Soul out of the way of a good deal of the attacks but you still took some damage. As some of the attacks missed they hit your physical body and dissipated, barely leaving a bruise when they made contact. You pulled your Soul towards you and tried to hold it close to your chest. Maybe you could slip it back inside you where it would be safe? Unfortunately it didn't work. It felt like you were trying to push two negatively charged magnets together. There was some unseen force preventing you from holding it properly and you couldn't get it to return to your chest. Knowing you couldn't shield it properly, you had no choice but to simply keep the little Soul dodging.

Like he'd said, Sans' attacks didn't do any more than a single digit of damage at a time. The issue was that he didn't seem like he was going to stop attacking at all. Your HP was down to eighteen and you were a bundle of nerves. The wave continued on with long and short bones moving towards you at a moderate pace with varied patterns. Now that you were getting the hang of moving your Soul it wasn't so bad, but you wondered when Sans would give you a break. He couldn't just keep up his current rate of attack forever… right?

Your wandering thoughts allowed another attack to blindside you and you flinched hard. Your body felt cold and stiff against the stone door. You knew it was just because your Soul was taking damage, but you couldn't help how scared you were feeling.

"Th-that's enough! You've made your point, okay Sans?" you stuttered, trying to stay standing on your weak and throbbing legs.

"You think so? 'Cause I don't think I'll believe that until you say that you'll stay here."

 _What, does he just think I'll promise that? That I'll stay here and be their little human pet forever? Or at least until the Royal Guard possibly drops by to collect my Soul. I can't believe he's actually trying to threaten me!_

You hissed as another attack snuck through. It seemed as though the attacks were coming faster now. The bones were moving at a rate where one would strike you only to have the next one disintegrate harmlessly on contact. Your Soul seemed to have a cool-down for how much damage it could take at once, but that wouldn't last you forever.

Your fight or flight instinct was kicking in to try and get you to rush forward at Sans, to push him over and shout him down, maybe run past him or throw your cane- but you weren't physically capable of that. The longer the fight went on the more your body locked up. You were in pain and shaking a bit but couldn't really feel the cold any more. Was it the effect of the magical attacks? You didn't really know. Your health ticked down to thirteen before you'd had enough.

"S- _stop_! Th-that'sss eno- Ssst… I c-ca-aa… _nngh_..."

You panicked as your body became tighter and tighter. You couldn't even manage to force words out of your mouth properly because of how your jaw felt wired shut, instead slurring out sounds as you shook helplessly against the stone behind you. You felt yourself hyperventilating as pain wrapped its way up your limbs through the entirety of your body. As your legs gave way you dropped your cane with a clatter. The flashlight remained in your other hand but your grip on it was so unbearably tight that you weren't sure if you would break it or your own bones.

As you hit the ground you saw Sans finally lift his head to look at you. Unfortunately you didn't have much time to see what expression he was wearing as you unceremoniously passed out.


	12. Midnight Talks

Hell yeah, I chapter that I enjoyed writing! I hope it's just as good to read...

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Pain and confusion. Those were the first two things you felt as you regained consciousness. Everything ached, but your leg, head and back were the worst. You hissed and groaned as the feeling became more and more clear to you, leading you back into the waking world.

God, you hadn't felt this awful since you were picked up by Toriel all that time ago.

As you blinked away the fog in your head you noticed that you were lying somewhat on your back. You were pretty sure that was wrong; you'd been pressed up against that giant purple door so you were sure you'd only been able to fall forward. The light of your torch wasn't much help in figuring things out. It was still in your hand but you didn't have the energy to lift it and look through the darkness around you. Instead you worked on peeling your fingers off the warmed metal and letting it hit the ground with a rattle-y _thunk_. Your fingers were stiff and you were sure that there was an imprint of the handle on your palm.

There was a slight squeeze on one of your shoulders and you squinted up in the dark to see what it was. It turned out to be a hand. Attached to the hand was a body and on top of that was a head holding two little lights for eyes. Huh, that was Sans, wasn't it? What was that guy's deal and only getting close to you when you were messed up? The first time was after you'd been cauter-whatevered and the second time was when you had that weird episode in the living room and needed to sit down… but wait, what had happened this time?

Oh, that's right. He'd attacked you.

Your memories quickly returned and you glared hard. Despite the darkness of the hallway colour had returned to the world and your deep pink Soul was nowhere to be seen; but you could remember what happened before you hit the ground. Somewhere within you, you could still feel the small hits of magical damage that had been dealt to your Soul. The fight had made you aware of the little heart and unlocked your ability to sense it within you. If you concentrated you could picture your HP in your mind: 10/25.

When he saw your resentful stare was fixed hard on him, Sans immediately let go of your shoulder and pushed his previous emotions off his face. You hadn't even noticed his expression until it was wiped away. Had that been fear and concern? Guilt maybe? No. You must have imagined it. Or maybe you just didn't care what he was feeling right now.

"Y-You see?" he mumbled, not making eye contact any more, "ya wouldn't survive a second out there. If that's what- what I can do… And you're so weak you're fallin' over with almost half your HP still there... So ya know ya gotta stay with Paps and Tori or-"

"You _dick_."

That certainly got Sans to look at you again. God, you were _pissed_. How dare he look away from you! How _dare_ he try to be all detached and emotionless after _attacking_ you! And then trying to turn that shit around on you too, trying to make it _your fault_! Sure, you could be pretty compliant just to keep the peace, but that didn't mean you had to take everything lying down! You didn't have to listen to his weak attempts to justify the stupid stunt he'd just pulled! Did he even think his idiotic little plan through? For some reason you'd been under the impression that he was smarter than that!

"What the hell is _wrong_ with you!?" you continued to hiss, "Do you really think that I could get past this giant ass door in my state?"

Wide eyes stared down at your angry ones. You got the impression that the moron really hadn't been expecting you to snap at him. _Well, tough luck buddy_. Just because you tried hard to be mild and considerate to others didn't mean you couldn't take yourself into consideration too. You had a balance to maintain between being courteous towards others while still being mindful of yourself and Sans had wrongfully thought he could twist that balance in his favour by scaring you.

"You said that you were-"

"I was bluffing!" you spat up from the floor, "I didn't even know this way led outside! If I really wanted to leave I would have used the front door like a sane person! I just wanted to check this place out. I thought there was a secret here, maybe. When you showed up I thought- I don't know what- But you actually _attacked me_! I wanted- I thought if I pushed you a bit you'd explain things..."

"I _did_ explain." Sans replied, frustrated.

"No! You never explain anything! None of you do!" You whined miserably on the ground. The cold from the stone was seeping through your back and making you horribly uncomfortable. The freezing temperature did nothing to sooth your tight and aching muscles and you squirmed uncomfortably with the little energy you had.

Sans simply watched you struggle from his spot at your side, furrowing his brows (or lack thereof).

"Dunno how I could make it any more clear to ya, bud. Outside you'll die. You hafta stay here if you wanna live."

"Oh sure," you huffed, "stay here forever. I'm sure nothing will go wrong! You guys will just babysit me forever even though I'm human and you obviously need my Soul to give to King what's-his-face and I'll _never_ have to worry about those Guard guys coming around and locking me up-"

"Wait, wait, how'd you find that stuff out?" Sans interrupted.

"Papyrus." You answered simply.

Sans stared at you before nodding and sighing, "Yeah, that seems likely. Bet he told you all 'bout how everyone's riled up about humans but can't pull themselves together enough to do the reports on 'em."

You nodded and he sighed even deeper.

"Ya think we're gonna eventually hand you over to the Royal Guard if we keep you here."

You nodded again, kind of impressed with how easily Sans worked it out. Maybe he did have some sense after all. He even said it as a statement rather than a question; a testament to his confidence in his deductions.

Sans shook his head at you, "We'd never do that. Paps and Tori both really like ya. That's why I came down here to stop you from throwin' your life away. I haven't seen either of them this bright for… months now. There's no way they'd let anythin' happen to ya, even though you're human."

"Yeah, _sure_." You grumbled. Groaning, you rolled onto your side away from Sans until you were leaning up on your forearms. The position still hurt your legs but you were sick of lying with your back against the cold floor. Part of you cursed the fact that Sans still didn't seem eager to help you, much like the last time you were struggling to move and he was the only one around. Another part was grateful he knew not to touch you because you probably would have smacked his hand away out of irritation.

"Come on, pal. Why dontcha trust us? Saving your life not good enough?"

"I want to trust you." You admitted quietly, staring at the ground between your arms, "I want to trust you and I do trust you. I just don't know _why_ I trust you. I don't even _know_ you. Any of you. Even though I've been here for ages now."

"Then why didn't ya just ask us?" Sans said, as if it was the simplest answer in the world.

You scoffed at him. Did he really think it was that easy? That it was that simple? Had he forgotten already?

"I tried but I can't _really_ ask. I promised."

"Promised what?"

"That I wouldn't push you about the red-eyed person."

Silence followed your answer. You used the gap in the conversation to slowly and painfully push yourself up and backwards onto your knees. When you'd gotten yourself upright you sat backwards and pushed your legs out in front of you so they wouldn't get injured, particularly your bad leg.

Once you were adjusted you let out an exhausted sigh and stared up at the dark ceiling for a moment before looking back to Sans. Now that you'd gotten all of your initial anger out of your system you were feeling a lot calmer; not entirely forgiving, just slightly less irate. Sans was sitting beside you with a blank look on his face. The lights of his eyes were still present but they were very dim. If you weren't so drained you would have picked up your flashlight to actually see him clearly, but since you were too tired sitting in the dark was just fine by you.

"Didn't think you'd remember any of that." he finally admitted.

"I wasn't _that_ out of it." You huffed.

"Could've fooled me."

You crossed your arms and hunched yourself over as Sans smiled and winked at you in the darkness. You weren't doing that out of childish anger though. No way. You were doing it because you were cold. It was cold in the basement. You weren't acting immature and if you were it was because you were still dizzy from when you'd suddenly seized up and passed out.

"Why do ya think that we're wound up about that anyway?" Sans asked you, "That stuff that happened was all up on the surface and no monsters can get up there."

"Don't pretend. I saw the way that you and Toriel looked at that knife and everything. You know something about it and it makes the house all… weird. Quiet and tense. I've had a lot of time to think about it and that's what I figured it was."

"Well, that's a good guess." Sans huffed a half-hearted laugh, looking down at his knees on the floor, "Technically, you didn't really _promise_ anythin' but… Yeah. You're right. 'Dun really wanna talk 'bout that."

As you listened to Sans trail off into a mumble you came to a sudden realisation. Wow, how had you not come to the realisation before? Perhaps the tension of the house really _had_ gotten to you. The tiny thought left you feeling a little guilty, somehow and you knew that it was only fair to admit your own fault to the guilty skeleton next to you.

"'S okay," you mumbled into your own arms as you pulled up your knees as best you could without hurting yourself, "I- I actually don't want to talk about it much either. I think I've been avoiding it too. I only thought about it… maybe three times over the past month?"

You cringed a little as you heard your own words out loud. You really weren't guilt free in this situation. Sure, you'd been focussing on other things over the past month, important things too, but your reason for that focus was the fear you had buried deep inside of you. To prevent yourself from thinking about those gleeful and haunting little eyes, you had busied yourself with paranoid thoughts about your health; instead of thinking about that night on the mountain, you had willfully positioned yourself to stress over the emotions of your monster caretakers; even just moments before you gave up on running off into the night and instead convinced yourself that exploring the basement was good enough, simply to avoid the possibility that you might run into your attacker again.

Yes, all of your actions were thoroughly thought out and justified and no, none of them had been pointless, but you had to admit that you'd been slightly motivated by a fear you hadn't been completely aware of- That you'd latched onto your implied promise to not speak about your attacker because a scared and selfish part of you simply didn't want to.

"I'm not going to just forgive you for being stupid like this. You shouldn't have attacked me," you said and Sans twitched slightly from regret, "but I think I can feel where that bad decision came from. I mean, I was the one to come down here and start pushing you because of my own paranoia... Look what a great idea that turned out to be. Ha…"

You could feel Sans' eyes on you for a moment before he gave out a weak laugh of his own. He was still mumbling but at least he looked at you as he spoke now.

"Guess we're both good at overthinkin' this kinda stuff. Shoulda known. I guess I- Well, I gotta be honest, I'm findin' it hard to trust you too even though you've been here a while. And before you ask: yeah, it's 'cause you're human."

You nodded at the admission and he sighed, probably as glad to have the bitter truth out in the air as you were.

After a moment you broke the silence, "So you don't trust me, but you want me to stay?"

"Like I said, Tori and Paps really like ya." Sans shrugged, pushing himself to sit up against the brick wall across from you and shoving his hands into his pockets, "In fact, it's the opposite for them: they wanna look after ya specifically 'cause you're human."

You raised a curious eyebrow. You had no intention of prompting the skeleton to elaborate further, but it seemed as though he wanted to get some stuff off of his chest, so you let him.

"Paps had a- well, he met a human once. He called 'em his friend, even though they kinda left him hangin' at the end there and they weren't actually… Well, my bro always sees the best in people. He's pretty cool like that. Point is, that human's… gone now, and the Royal Guard he was workin' so hard to join is all messed up. Takin' care of you 's been good for him. When I talked with Tori and she said he could help her take care of the next human that fell he threw everythin' he had into it. It was like he was back to normal again and that other human never happened."

"... I think part of it was because of you."

It was mostly thanks to his bright eye-lights that you could see Sans tilt his head in the darkness. You could tell he didn't quite get what you meant, so you elaborated.

"When I was talking to him, he said that you'd been acting off for a couple of months before I got here. I'm pretty sure that a good part of why he's trying so hard with me is because he just wants to gain your trust and make you stop worrying. In fact, he pretty much just up and admitted it. He covered it up with a ton of positivity, sure, but I think he's actually really worried about you."

There was a moment where Sans sat completely still before his eyes crinkled upwards. Even with the minimal light you could see how the simple action made his smile appear ten times bigger than normal.

"Heh. Yeah, my bro's the best," he said fondly, his whole body language lighting up with pride, "Lot's a people just think he's just loud and all that junk, but he's got the brightest Soul in the entire Underground. Everyone underestimates him. Yeah, that's, you're right- that's exactly somethin' he would do…"

You let the silence sit as Sans became somewhat lost in his thoughts. He still had some affection flitting through his eyes from talking about his brother, but it seemed that there was some worry and regret mixed in with it now too.

"What about Toriel?" You asked quietly, drawing Sans out of his thoughts.

"Oh yeah, Tori… Tori has this thing where she takes care of every human that falls down here. She really wants to protect 'em, for her own reasons. Thing is, every human who's fallen down here ends up leavin'; from what she's told me they usually they bolt the first chance they get. 'S kinda one of the reasons I've been keepin' such a close eye on ya, y'know, besides the obvious."

You nodded solemnly, "So they all died out there?"

"Uh, pretty much." Sans pulled one of his hands out of his jacket and scratched at his cheek as he looked off into the darkness. You tried not to show how uncomfortable the sound of his bones scraping against each other made you feel. "Humans are all different, but she tried to care for each of 'em anyway. Guess most of 'em didn't feel comfortable with that though. Even with you she was so happy… But, uh, the more you recover, the more she's tryna distance herself from ya. She's scared that you'll run off too first chance ya get, and hey, she wasn't wrong."

Guilt hit you hard and you had to look away to collect your thoughts. You hadn't known that you were such an important source of stability for the three monsters. Most of your thoughts had drifted to the possibility that you were a burden, but Sans' words made sense to you. His explanations seemed too sentimental and raw to be lies.

You finally had the truth. You could finally shut down your whispering anxieties. Now all you had to deal with was the guilt of having come up with such a risky plan like 'running away'.

"I'm sorry. I wish we'd talked about all of this sooner." you said quietly. "I should have thought of a way to just talk about all this stuff instead of assuming the worst."

"Hey, you and me both, pal." Sans chuckled.

You smiled at the skeleton. That was the second time he'd called you 'pal' and it somehow made you feel a bit more at ease to hear it. It felt like that things were just a bit closer to being natural, just the way they should be.

"Welp, can't stay down here all night. Gotta get to sleep. We've got a lot to do tomorrow."

Suddenly Sans stood and reached his hand down to you. You looked up at him in confusion.

"What are we doing tomorrow?" You asked taking his hand. He didn't put much effort into helping you up, but you got the feeling that that was just because he was actually genuinely relaxed around you now and was just being lazy. Once you were standing he pushed your walking stick and torch into your hand. Wait, how had he picked those things up without you noticing?

"Well, you're going to go through the Ruins with us aren't ya? Paps would be pretty disappointed if you slept all day and didn't get to try out his puzzles."

Your eyes lit up in excitement as you slowly realised what Sans was saying.

"We're- you trust me now? I can finally go out of the house?"

"Hey, I know I said I didn't trust ya before 'cause you're human, but I do trust you as _you_. I want to trust ya and I do trust ya. Just didn't know _why_ ," Sans winked as he repeated your earlier words back at you, "'till I got to know you."

For the first time since your first time speaking directly with him, aside from when you'd first met, you let out a small, genuine laugh. You knew that he meant what he'd said and you were glad to trust him too.

"C'mon. From now on we're gonna _put our best foot forward_."

"... Sans, _seriously?_ "

You got the feeling that things were actually going to be okay.


	13. Walking in Ruins

I know I don't have a set schedule and honestly I really should but it's currently 3:47 am and I'm uploading this lets goGO _GO_ _!_

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You were so excited to be walking around that not even the ache in your leg was going to stop you from exploring the Ruins with your three guides.

… Even if one of said guides was very insistent that you complete the many puzzles he'd been setting up and maintaining over the past month.

As completely pumped as you had been the whole day knowing that you were _finally_ going to be leaving Toriel's house, you could never have matched Papyrus' reaction when he was told the news. He'd been so happy that he didn't seem to know what to do with himself. The first thing he'd done was snatch up his brother into a hug and thank him over and over, boldly proclaiming that he would not let the decision be wasted. The smaller skeleton was left looking pretty surprised as he was held squashed and dangling in his sibling's grip. He seemed to recover pretty well from it though (in fact, you were certain that it had improved his mood ten times over) as his brother shouted excitedly and tore up and down the house to prepare for the outing.

Toriel had reacted with much less surprise and you got the feeling that she'd spoken with Sans before you had woken up. Not that you knew how or when he'd done that; you had slept pretty lightly after everything that had happened and figured you would have overheard him talking to her in the adjacent room. Regardless, Toriel seemed a lot… _brighter_ around you.

You hadn't realised how true Sans' words were until the morning came and she started talking with you again, but the poor woman really _had_ been withdrawing from you. During recent days Papyrus had been the one to take up your time. It had been justified as her taking a break after continuously healing you for two weeks straight, but now you knew there was a second, more subtle reason for it. God, you'd forgotten just how _pleasant_ it was to hold a simple conversation with her. You found yourself enraptured by her knowledge of the Ruins and listened attentively to every fact.

"The mechanisms are quite old, but some are still decently maintained." Toriel explained as you slowly walked to the next puzzle, "The ones along the main path are still the same as they were when the barrier was first formed. Many monsters would be horribly inconvenienced if the main path was altered, but the ones that lay deeper within can be freely changed by anyone who wishes to do so."

"It's true!" Papyrus enthusiastically confirmed the monster woman's lecture on the Ruins, "Though when I came across them many of the optional puzzles were in complete disrepair! It is very lucky that I, Puzzle Master Papyrus, just so happened to come by and rejuvenate them!"

"Yeah, those puzzles had fallen to _pieces_."

"Sans-!"

"Oh, but your brother is right, Papyrus! It was a good thing you had a _solution_!"

"QUICKLYHUMANTHENEXTPUZZLEISOVERTHISWAYDON'TPAYATTENTIONTOTHEMITWILLONLYMAKEITWORSE!"

You couldn't help but snicker a little to yourself as Papyrus half pushed, half carried you away from the other two giggling monsters.

Technically Toriel and Sans had been using wordplay and not necessarily puns, but it was all the same in Papyrus' book. A lot of the time you knew that the tall skeleton was just over-reacting for the sake of it (it wasn't as if he'd never made a pun himself, though you guessed he would deny it like there was no tomorrow) but no one ever called him out on it. Sometimes you wondered if he reacted in certain ways just to add to the fun. You could never be completely sure given his, uh, _unique_ way of thinking. Regardless, it certainly put the other two monsters at ease. The inconsistent chastising seemed to work more as fuel for their fire.

And they really did need to be put at ease. Even with the decision already made to go out into the Ruins, both Toriel and Sans were looking a bit nervous. There was a point just before you were going to leave the house where Papyrus stepped out of his room wearing some kind of weird costume you had never seen before. You had snickered at it a little bit at first - _despite all of the fluorescent-rainbow wristbands; basketball shaped pads; and scribbled on sweatshirts, the superhero-styled costume had simultaneously been the funniest and least surprising thing to exist in his wardrobe_ \- but the look on Sans' face had been… something. You were almost afraid that he would call the whole thing off right then and there. Fortunately for you, Sans' eyes had quickly snapped back on and he told his brother he looked amazin'. Since then, Papyrus had been putting forth his best effort to make sure the trip was ' _The Greatest, just like me!_ '.

Very carefully you were placed back on the ground on a paint splattered pathway. You quickly positioned your black cane so that you could lean most of your weight on it. You'd been mildly interested to learn that the stick you used to walk was a large branch from the same black bark tree you had seen outside Toriel's windows.

However, what you found even more interesting was the fact that the tree's red leaves had somehow made their way through the entirety of the Ruins. They lay in deeeeep piles at random points of the Ruins' many purple hallways. Several had even been integral parts of puzzles, though Toriel forbid you from attempting those ones. They involved falling and you didn't need any more of _that_ in your life. Capable of walking you may be, but that didn't mean you did it very well. The nearly identical shiny scars present on both the front and back of your lower calf were pretty poor indicators of whatever damage you had under the skin. You still had random fits of pain shoot through your poor limb. Sometimes you could swear that the damn thing was going to twist up so tightly that your bones would be crushed to powder. But, much like the other random tight pains that were plaguing your body, you were learning to deal with it. It would probably go away once you had fully recovered (you hoped). And what better way to progress your recovery than getting some proper exercise?

"As you can see, this puzzle is quite old as it is on the main path, just as Toriel said!" Papyrus began explaining, "However, thanks to my generous efforts, this puzzle had now been improved significantly!"

"It goes both ways now?"

"Indeed! It goes both ways!"

You smiled. For the last four puzzles you had attempted, Papyrus had introduced them all in exactly the same way, only with a slightly different flair each time. It seemed that all of the Ruins' puzzles were all designed to be solved from the same direction. This would have been a problem for you since you were walking outwards from Toriel's house and therefore would be approaching them the wrong way. Thankfully(?), Papyrus had put in the time and effort (with permission from Toriel) to make each puzzle functional no matter which way you approached them. Mostly this was achieved by mirroring the puzzle, but sometimes the method of completion was completely different.

For example: when you came across a row of spikes on a bridge a few rooms back. You could see pressure plates on the far side of the moat, but on your right side three switches had been installed. Papyrus had explained that there was no room on your side of the puzzle to copy the plates, so he'd placed the switches on the wall instead. He'd then re-activated the puzzle once you had solved and walked past it, claiming that you could have fun solving it from a different perspective when you all went home.

After that Toriel had mumbled something about boulders wandering off and Sans had made a joke about 'sleeping like a _rock_ '. You had no idea what they were talking about but Papyrus' overdramatic reaction made you laugh anyway.

But back to the present. The puzzle you were faced with now seemed to be the mirrored variety and your tall skeletal friend was still proudly explaining it.

"The plaque with the instructions to this puzzle is there on the wall!" Papyrus exclaimed proudly.

"That's great, but I'd rather have you tell me the instructions."

"Ah, yes, of course!" he grinned, "Your thinking is correct as usual, human! It would be such a wasted opportunity to not hear the puzzle's instructions directly from the handsome rogue who implemented such vast improvements!"

You nodded along with the harmlessly egotistical claims, mostly because you had already figured out that Papyrus had written each plaque himself. Nine times out of ten they were barely legible and the remaining number were unnecessarily long to a point where you got a bit confused about what you were supposed to be doing.

"Very well then! The hint is 'the western room is'- Wait, that's not right! It was different after I changed it so- Ahem! 'The eastern room is the southern room's blueprint'...? No, that's not it! It's not 'southern'! I meant to say 'western'! But not like the first time I said it! I meant the second one!"

"... Right. Thanks." _On second thought, getting a verbal explanation isn't much better._

You looked forward into the next room to find it littered with the spikiest bridge you had seen yet. So far when you had encountered them, spikes like those were commonly used to bar your path. However, they only came in one or two rows at a time. This was an amazingly unnecessary number of spikes… unless they had something to do with the puzzle itself?

Understanding Papyrus' hint was a lot like solving a puzzle in and of itself ( _well, more like a riddle, but who really cares?_ ) but it was the only clue you had. No matter their direction, he'd mentioned there were at least two rooms involved. There was also something about a blueprint? Oh!

You looked back at the previous room and inspected the dried paint on the floor. The paint was a noticeable red against the purple floor and wasn't restricted to the wavy pathway that stretched down the hall you had just been escorted through. It was a little crude, but you got the idea: the paint was a hint to the path through the spikes in the next room.

Trying your best to keep the pattern in your mind you entered the spiked room and took a hesitant step towards the area that most likely matched up with the painted map. To your great relief the spikes before you easily retracted as you walked over them. You could practically feel Papyrus vibrating with joy as you continued along the hidden pathway. Much like the others, it was a relatively simple puzzle. There was no doubt that you would be clear of it in about ten seconds flat.

Then, about halfway, you reached a tile that didn't retract.

Well.

Jeez, had you gone the wrong way? Did you overestimate the length of the path? _Drat_! You'd forgotten the pattern already!

The room wasn't really that big, but you'd also managed to lose the pathway back to the beginning. That was what you got for being so damned overconfident! Maybe you could peek at the paint again through the archway to the previous room? You tried not to show your embarrassment as you turned around and quickly discovered that your plan wasn't going to work.

Standing in the archway, blocking your view of the hint drawn on the ground, were your three monster caretakers. As you'd guessed Papyrus was watching you eagerly, waiting with baited breath for your next move. Toriel was standing beside him, looking like a really concerned mother who was nervously watching her kid ( _ha, kid…_ ) on a public playground and worrying about them falling off of the monkey bars. Sans was just laughing at you silently and hiding it poorly.

You stuck your tongue out at them a little with a smile, both to show them that you were still doing fine and to get back at Sans. Both Toriel and Papyrus beamed back at you and Sans' snickering became just a little bit audible.

You turned back to the spikes surrounding you and quickly ran through your options. From what you could remember the path was one single line with no dead ends. That meant there was only one way forward. All you had to do was find it.

Bracing yourself to stand properly, you waved your cane at the spikes. The end of the stick hit the hard metal with a _clink_ until one of the spikes retracted. Great! You found the path again! You easily made your way completely to the other side and waved your victory back to the monsters.

"Well done, my dear! I was quite worried there for a moment!" Toriel called happily.

"Yes, human! You did wonderfully!" Papyrus cheered, "Even though your solution was technically not allowed?"

"Give 'em a break, bro." Sans winked and kicked his foot on the red-splattered floor, "Solving this puzzle must have been a _pain_ t."

As Papyrus gave his loud reaction and Toriel burst into a fit of giggles you wondered how long Sans had been holding onto that pun. Probably from the moment you had showed signs of getting stuck. Maybe even before then. You honestly wouldn't put it past him.

Quite suddenly, Papyrus fluttered over to you. ... _Wait, whaaaat?_ He kinda... leapt and ran through the air? Really unevenly? You didn't know he could- God damnit. Monsters were weird. _Skeletons_ were _weird_. And Papyrus was honestly just the _Weirdest_.

"Well, human!" he declared as he plopped down awkwardly next to you, completely missing your honestly discombobulated expression, "I suppose that since you found such a dastardly loophole within this puzzle, I must make sure that the _next_ one is sufficiently challenging! You have been warned!"

And with that he was off, running like a normal person again. That is, if a normal person consisted of twig-thin limbs that seemed to flail almost uncontrollably as they laughed at the top of their lungs.

 _Eh, it still made more sense than flying._

You glanced back over the sea of spikes to see that Toriel and Sans were still snickering to themselves, no doubt caught up in another string of puns. Knowing that the pair was basically unstoppable by know you gave a satisfied little sigh before turning to hobble after Papyrus with your cane. No doubt he was at the next puzzle right now, already rewiring things and waiting as patiently as possible for you to arrive and attempt it.

You walked through a short, twisting hall; barely bothering to read the original plaque for the puzzle you had just completed. Despite there being no branching paths and at least one of your monster friends close by in either direction, you felt relatively isolated and peaceful.

Looking at the brickwork you wondered what kind of materials made purple brick. It seemed to be a trend in the Ruins, or at least the most common material. Every tunnel you had walked down had been made of these bricks, even the front of Toriel's house! You'd never been able to look at the place from an outsider's perspective before, so it had been a little bit of a surprise for you to see what the place you'd been living in for the past month and a bit really looked like. Toriel had even led you to a balcony which showed you a grand view of the many ancient and crumbling buildings that gave the Ruins its name. Seeing that sight alone- the sprawling architecture, the cave bordering its every edge and enclosing the abandoned city beneath it- you really gained some perspective on what the Underground really _was_.

You hadn't gone down into the city ruins, but Toriel had said ' _Not yet…_ ', which was about as good as saying ' _Definitely later_ '. It was all okay by you; there was no way you could have walked through that entire place. The only thing that you were mildly disappointed by was the fact that it didn't seem like you would be meeting any new monsters any time soon. Despite Toriel claiming that you were traversing a major path, as far as you had seen the Ruins hallways that you had been traversing were all relatively abandoned. It was a shame, but it seemed like you wouldn't be bumping into any new faces anytime soo-

"Oof!"

For a terrifying moment you struggled to catch your balance. Flicking your cane back you managed to steady yourself before your head met the concrete of the floor. Your body screamed at you for the sudden turn of events and you chastised yourself for letting your mind wander while walking. _Bad things will happen if I do that! Haven't I learned this lesson before!?_

Pushing yourself upright you looked up to see what you had run into. It was... a floating dummy of some sort? It seemed pretty beat up and was kind of just hovering in front of you. Kind of like that little magenta heart that was in front of your chest and- _Wait_ , _shit, that's my Soul again!_

You inwardly cursed as you realised what was happening. The purple walls around you had drained of colour as your senses instinctively focussed in on the floating object before you. Was the dummy actually a monster? How were you supposed to have known _that_? And why had they called your Soul out just like Sans did? _Were they really going to kill you just like he'd claimed!?_

"H-hey, I'm really sorry about that! It was my bad!" you immediately began apologising, trying to look as unintimidating as possible. Damnit, no one else was around! Papyrus was probably up further ahead and Sans and Toriel were likely taking their sweet time to catch up because of all their pun slinging.

"... oh… oh nooo…" the dummy mumbled in distress, "you're a h-h-human..."

As you watched the stuffed monster began to tremble uncontrollably. The buttons of its eyes wavered and suddenly burning hot tears were travelling in your direction. You quickly moved your Soul out of the way of each attack, glad that you had at least some prior experience with dodging. Your body, however, was significantly less nimble. Several of the tears managed to clip your upper body. Since it was magical energy that was hitting a physical being such as yourself, the damage wasn't too extensive but it did sting like a mild sunburn whenever contact was made.

"Hey, no, I'm-" you fumbled around, searching for the right words and failing horribly, "I didn't mean to bump into you like that! I'm so sorry!"

"... oh, you're… sorry?" The tears let up for a moment as the shivering dummy looked at you with the most pathetic expression on its poorly stitched face.

"Yes! I really am very sorry! I must have scared you so much! I should have been paying attention to where I was going."

"... oh, no, it's... It's my fault... I'm sorry... I shouldn't even be here like this…"

You were about to relax a bit before another round of acidic tears were travelling your way. You panicked a bit as you dodged, but not before realising that the action was entirely unintentional. The monster floating before you was actually incredibly timid and seeing that made you feel a little better about your situation. Maybe you talk your way out of things without having to scream for help from your caretakers after all…

"No, don't worry, it's not your fault at all." You said as calmly as you could while avoiding the painful wave of tears. "I messed up and made you cry. You don't have to blame yourself for anything."

"... Thank you," the dummy mumbled, at which you smiled back softly, "... But you're actually wrong… I messed up..."

"What, no! No you really didn't!" you argued, only for the dummy to shake its head sadly and look away.

"... no, I really did," it sniffled, "I always come to the Ruins when I need to be alone... But my usual spots all felt... Really bad. I thought maybe I could try possessing this dummy instead... But I ended up getting s-s-so saaaad… I accidentally became corporeal… If I was still a ghost you wouldn't have bumped into me… I'm really sorry..."

You watched helplessly as the monster began to sob quietly to itself, though thankfully with their tears aimed more at the floor and wall to your right rather than at you. So the dummy wasn't their true form. A ghost made a bit of sense because you automatically associated them with skeletons and monsters, and you had already met those. Was the poor thing stuck in there?

"That's really terrible," you console them gently, "Is there any way I can help you?" You didn't really know what to do, but you felt bad enough to at least offer a helping hand. Unfortunately the monster just shook their head sadly.

"... no, noooo... It's already too late... Once a ghost becomes corporeal... They're stuck with that body until it's destroyed and they-… th-they die w-w-with iiiit..." You had no idea how but the possessed dummy began to sob and sniffle even harder. "... oh, I… I'll never be able to get home a-and ... Everything is s-sooooo sad..."

For a moment you just stood there as the ghost-turned-punching-bag continued to float in place and sob its little button eyes out. You had an idea about what might help, but couldn't quite judge how dangerous it was given that the monster was so obviously meek yet still had tears that had shaved off six of your twenty-five HP. But seeing them so miserable motivated you and so you slowly, gently, _very carefully_ pulled them into a slightly awkward hug.

"... oh? What are you… oh... Th-this is... ?"

"Hey, it'll be okay." You gently rubbed little circles on the dummy's back, making sure they could easily pull away from you if they were uncomfortable. Having to lean on your cane to stay upright wasn't really helping you to make the gesture as warm as it could be, but you were doing your best. Thankfully it seemed that you were doing the right thing and the burning tears were falling less and less. It was a good thing that volunteering for the search party all that time ago had prepared you to comfort people in distress.

"... Is this a hug? I, um, I've never been hugged before... Being a ghost and all... This is… nice… Maybe its not _all_ bad..."

"Guess not, huh?" you chuckled as you released them. "But I get it. You… you can't go home right now and it sucks. Lots of bad things happen all the time. But maybe it'll be okay. Have you, um, talked to someone? Because... I've forgotten to do that kind of stuff too."

You couldn't deny that you could actually sympathise with the ghost considering your circumstances; not being able to get home, being trapped by the limitations of your own body, having thoughts of self-blame… But that wasn't what you needed to be focussing on right now. No, you needed to be paying attention to the increasingly quieter words that the dummy was saying.

"... oh... I couldn't trouble anyone... I've watched some monsters come through here every day but... They're a group and I didn't want to interrupt... The tall one reminds me of-... h-he's very loud... So I have to leave whenever I see him... That's why I bumped into you... I'm really sorry..."

"It's okay, I'm sorry too." You apologise again, "just talk to someone when you think you're ready, ok?"

"... oh, okay... You seem really nice… I-I hope I'm right this time... oh..." The dummy shuddered a moment before looking at you and shaking. Suddenly your Soul was merging back into your chest and the next thing you knew, three gold coins were floating into your hand.

"... Since I became corporeal... I've been able to pick up physical objects... I found these in the leaves… you can have them… I'm going to go think for a while I guess…"

And with that the dummy floated upwards and into a dark hole in the ceiling before you even had a chance to thank them.

You stood dumbfounded as you stared up at the stone roof, contemplating everything that had just happened. You felt… a little proud of yourself. It was a good thing you did, cheering up that poor ghost. Looking at the coins in your hand you admired how shiny they were. You didn't know what kind of coins they were until you spotted that one symbol with the triangles and the winged circle on the opposite side to the letter 'g'. The same pattern on Toriel's dress, the basement door and various locations in the ruins. Sooooo, monster currency then. Cool.

While you were inspecting the coins something soft landed on your shoulder, causing you to jump. Whipping around you heard a _crack_ and suddenly you were on a one way trip onto the concrete floor. Or it would have been that way, except that you were swiftly caught and cradled by warm and fuzzy arms.

Looking up you saw Toriel smiling down at you so proudly that you couldn't stop a blush from lighting up a good portion of your face.

"Well done, my dear." She said, and you flushed even more. She _saw_ all of that? Oh man. It shouldn't have been embarrassing but the way that she was acting like a mother whose kid had just done something adorable just _made_ it that way.

"Ah ha ha… thanks..."

Oh boy, now you were beginning to sound like that ghost! You turned your face away from Toriel only to make eye-contact with Sans.

"So, first time talking to a ghost?" he asked and you could sense the obvious build up in his voice, "Guess you're _breaking_ new ground today."

To hammer in the pun he lifted up your broken cane and you groaned. Great, now you couldn't walk anymore. The acidic tears from the ghost/dummy must have weakened the wood, making it snap in half once you'd turned and placed a majority of your weight on it. Damnit.

"Ahh… Sorry." You sighed, "I guess we have to go back now, huh?"

"Hmm, not exactly, my dear." Toriel hummed, "It is quite unfortunate in Papyrus' case, but we shall leave the remaining puzzles for another day. Right now… there is something I believe you deserve to see."


	14. Touching Base with Toriel

I wrote this in a day because I need to make up for all the time spent not uploading Chapters. Also, Semester 2 of Uni is looming on the horizon and I expect that I'll be very busy come August.

But hey, I gotta get this stuff out there, no matter what!

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"It is a shame, but I unequivocally believe we can overcome such a small mishap! In fact, to assure that we do not encounter such misfortunes in the future, the next time you attempt my puzzles I shall bring extra sticks, just in case!"

"Thanks Papyrus." You smiled from the strong grip of Toriel's arms.

It was an honest shame that you had broken your cane but you'd kind of reached your limit for walking anyway. Your body was tight to a point where you were worried the tension would creep up into your face. Fortunately, being held by Toriel made you feel a bit more relaxed, as though she was using her healing magic on you again. Actually, was she doing that? The process wasn't always visible to you. She had a level of talent with it that she only needed to be nearby for her healing to transmit properly.

As you were carried in the fuzzy arms of your largest monster carer you came to a new room with two staircases curving down to the leaf covered floor before you. Despite being made of the exact same materials as the rest of the Ruins, the room had a very regal feel to it; like the foyer of a mansion. Green vines (another repetitive feature grown to make the purple halls less monotonous) were woven into themselves and framed the doorway you entered through. Even the red leaves that had so far only existed within discarded piles were painstakingly arranged to decorate the circumference of the pathway.

"Uh, hey, Paps?" Sans suddenly spoke up as you began to descend the stairs.

"Yes, brother?"

"Ya wanna hang back for a while? Go over the puzzles again?"

At first you couldn't see the exchange, due to being wrapped up in a pair of particularly strong and fuzzy arms. However, once Toriel reached the flat ground at the bottom of the left staircase she turned around to watch the exchange, meaning that you were given a decent view of what was going on as well.

Papyrus was paused halfway down the stairs and looking up at his brother. From the back of his head alone you couldn't work out his expression, but he was fiddling with the ends of his mitts. You figured he was either nervous or thoroughly thinking over his options. Considering the few hints he had shared with you about his relationship with his brother, you had a feeling that it could quite possibly be the former.

Sans, for his part, hadn't even bothered to approach the stairs yet. He was still standing beneath the archway you had all entered through, looking casual enough to make you feel that it was a bit odd. Despite being able to see his face you were still pretty mediocre at reading the guy's expressions. It didn't help that being cradled in Toriel's arms on a slightly different floor put your line of sight at a bit of a weird angle.

"Um… I'm not sure-?" Papyrus began.

"With me, of course." Sans quickly added, tilting his head in a way that helped his permanent smile appear more genuine.

"Oh, _with_ you? Definitely!" Instantly the taller skeleton's demeanor changed as he lit up, placing a hand dramatically over his white chest-plate, "This is the perfect time for me to walk you through the modifications I made to all the puzzles we have passed so far! You'd better pay close attention to make up for all the time you missed by deciding to stay at home and sleep!"

"Heh, can't make any promises but I'll try." Sans winked at his brother's displeasure before turning to Toriel and asking "you two gonna be okay by yourselves?"

"We will only be a few rooms away." Toriel smiled up at him. You nodded too as Papyrus left the room, quickly tailed by the much lazier skeleton. Before he left, Sans shot a wink back at you specifically. You didn't know exactly what he was trying to communicate with that, but you were pleased when you recognised that same feeling of trust that you and Sans had formed back in the freezing cold basement.

"... I hope things go well for him." Toriel sighed once the pair were out of sight. You wondered if you should ask what she meant by that but held back. There was a look of fondness in the kindly woman's eyes, layered over with shades of sympathy and possible nostalgia. Instead you allowed her to carry you into the darkness of the next room and beyond.

From Toriel's arms you watched the dark room disappear behind the corner as she walked, leaving behind the eerie sight of an empty spot of grass illuminated from above. For the first time you entered an area of the Ruins that was not paved purple. All around the walls consisted of grey stone that was only worn down enough to prevent any rocks from jutting outwards. The floor was bare, unlike the pathways that you had been traversing before, and the roof still had stalactites hanging from it. Despite the fact that you had already experienced the same feeling while looking over the crumbling city only a half-hour ago, you were reminded that you truly were in a cave.

 _I'm glad that that was never a lie,_ you thought to yourself, _I couldn't imagine what I would have done if I'd found out I wasn't actually trapped under a mountain. If everyone had actually been lying to me I… I'm glad that they were good people. I'm so glad I can trust them like I wanted to._

Just as you had finished that thought, Toriel twisted her body to sit on the stone floor.

"Shall I sit you beside me or would you prefer to be held?" She asked quietly.

"Uh, I can sit on my own, thanks." You smiled back. Getting carried around all the time, especially now that you'd proved that you could walk, made you feel really undignified. Not that you would say that to anyone's face, of course! You just needed to be treated like an adult every now and again.

Nodding, Toriel placed you carefully beside her. Much like the spot that you had passed before, a single beam of light illuminated a patch of grass nestled among the stone cavern. The difference was that this spot was slightly larger and covered in a swath of pretty yellow flowers. You guessed that they were buttercups or something similar. Following the beam of light upwards you traced the uneven edges of the cave walls until your head was tilted so far back you were almost lying flat. Far, far, _far_ above you was a tiny pinprick of light.

"My dear… I have wanted to show you this for quite some time. But I… hesitated. And for that I am sorry."

You looked at Toriel quizzically. You thought you had some idea of what was going on, but you needed to let the woman continue to confirm those thoughts. For a moment she only breathed and looked downcast at the floor. After she was able to collect her thoughts, Toriel looked you in the eye and gave you a strangely wistful smile.

"This," she finally affirmed, "is the entrance to the Underground."

You nodded in understanding and turned to look back at the ceiling again. God, it was so high up! No wonder no one could escape from the Underground.

"How the heck did I survive that…?" You muttered to yourself.

"Long ago the land above crumbled down through the barrier, bringing with it the dirt and flowers," Toriel explained and you remembered the hole within the roof of the cave you had entered so long ago. "Growing here in the Underground the flowers became exposed to more magic and so gained slightly new properties. Anyone who falls down from the surface can rest assured that they will be safe in this bed of flowers."

"I'm glad I didn't land wrong then," You winced, remembering the dangerous placement of the rusted blade. If the fall had jostled you enough you probably wouldn't have survived the fall regardless of how soft the flowers were.

Toriel nodded her silent agreement, no doubt following your train of thought.

Suddenly deciding that you didn't want to persue such a grim subject for longer than necessary, you spoke up again.

"It actually so high up that I can't see the barrier. It is up there, right? I mean, I could probably understand if it was too dangerous to get out this way even without a magic wall blocking you, but still…"

"Indeed, the barrier is quite high up." Toriel agreed, "It is very unlikely that you would be able to see it at this time of day. Mostly it becomes visible at night or twilight, but I can assure you it is present. We did try to find ways around it; New Home was founded on the other side of the mountain purely because it had easy access to a portion of the barrier level with the cave floor. It is much like a bubble, trapping us within from every angle. No matter how much rock we dig away there are no weak points to it. Many have tried and failed to find a solution that wasn't horrifying. All of them failed and eventually… we all simply gave up."

The silence settled in around both of you, heavy with heartache and the weight of the past. You contemplated Toriel's words. Each one was laced with deep hopelessness. You imagined a time where monsters had only just been trapped beneath the mountain, holding onto the hope that they might one day see the surface again if they just tried hard enough. Families sitting in the dark with only candles for company, not knowing whether it was night or day at any given time. A city slowly being built as they began to dig, hoping to find a loophole in the magic that kept them trapped.

Just thinking about it made you feel a little depressed. After all, you were trapped down here now too. Even if you suddenly decided that the barrier didn't exist there was no way you could climb such an impossible height to the surface- and even if you got up there you there was no telling what could be waiting for you…

You heaved a sigh.

"Don't worry, I believe you." You muttered, eyes still trained upwards. How the hell were you gonna get out of this one? Maybe… maybe you couldn't. But you didn't have to give up hope because of that. If you became hopeless then you might become unmotivated, and you still had your recovery to work on.

Turning to Toriel, you opened your mouth to ask another question, only to forget what you were about to say once you saw her face.

Her head was tilted downwards as she sat next to you. Her shoulders were hunched slightly and her hands lay limp in her lap. As you watched large, wet tears rolled down her face, smaller trails soaking into the fur around her muzzle. She was completely silent as she cried and that left you confused as to what you should do.

"T-Toriel," you whispered as you lay a careful hand on her knee, "I'm really sorry. Do you want to-"

"No, no! _I'm_ the one who is sorry!"

Suddenly Toriel was pulling you into a tight embrace and bawling her eyes out. You struggled to breathe as you were held within a prison of purple robes and fluffy fur, but managed to free an arm to pat the goat woman's back.

"I- I'm so sorry. I'm sorry!" She continued to sob, even as she loosened her grip so you could quietly gasp down some air, "I know that you want to go home, even though you have been so patient. I heard when you were engaged in the fight earlier- a-and from Sans too… Every human who falls always- they always leave. I understand that they want to go home, I _do_ , it's just… I want to protect them. So I tried to avoid the topic of the barrier. I _tried_. It n-never helped, but you… you believe me."

Still crying, Toriel retracted an arm from around you to wipe at her soaked face. You were still being held closely by her remaining arm as she tried to calm herself.

"So Sans really did talk to you about all that." You commented as you continued to rub and pat the woman's back. Considering all the comforting and tears, after today some might be able to call you a monster therapist.

"Yes, he did." Toriel mumbled from behind her sleeve. "I knew that you would attempt to leave eventually, despite my warnings. I have failed to protect so many that I simply assumed that the same would happen to you. Even my single success ended up being a lie. That is why I had distanced myself from you when you began to walk again. It is why Sans decided to block your path instead of me. It is all because I am a simple coward. And in being a coward… I suppose I am also a hypocrite too."

"It's okay, I've already forgiven you," you smiled, "Besides, it's not like I haven't done anything wrong either. I mean, I tried to run away instead of just talking things out! That's pretty stupid, considering."

You gestured at your leg as Toriel smiled and huffed a breath.

"Ah, but you were right, my dear, we would not have told you much," she sniffled, looking ashamed, "My cowardice runs so deep that- that I actually considered… ending my life just to save yours."

That made you look at her in shock. Toriel was thinking of killing herself to help you?

"Do you remember what I said about the barrier and Souls?" she asked and you nodded. "When a monster wishes to pass the barrier they require a human's Soul to do so. And when a human wishes to cross, they require a monster's Soul, except only a specific type can last long enough for that to happen."

"Boss monsters…" you mumbled, recalling the vague memory of Toriel explaining Souls to you.

"Indeed, my dear. I am quite possibly the last boss monster in the Underground."

You sat stunned as you looked up at the monster woman's miserable smile. There were so many things about her that didn't make sense. She was a monster that didn't want a human Soul so that she could escape or use it to free her people. Instead she protected them and mourned whenever they died. And on top of that she was a boss monster; the exact type that contained a Soul powerful enough for a human to want to kill her for. And she was… willing to die for you? Or, more accurately, she was suicidal. Likely because of all the dead humans that had broken her heart.

"Toriel… no. Just no." You whispered, "don't do that. Don't _say_ that. There are people who would miss you if you died. I don't want to pass through any barrier if it means someone has to get hurt for it anyway. It shouldn't have to come to that."

"I- I know that now. Thank you." Toriel sniffed, "I did eventually realise that getting you through the Underground to the other side of the barrier would be quite difficult. It was possible that we would both die on such a trip. I suppose I eventually thought better of it… or, more likely, I was being selfish as usual."

"You're not selfish for deciding to live."

"Aha ha… My dear, you do not understand just how long I have lived."

"Uh, how long?"

"Longer than a human, I assure you." Toriel smirked weakly.

"Oh," you said, an idea suddenly formulating in your head, "and here I was thinking that Papyrus and Sans were the only _fossils_ around here!"

The effect of your plan was instantaneous as Toriel let out an ugly snort and started to laugh. You snickered along with her and gave yourself a pat on the back for every wheeze and hiccup that broke up her seemingly unending stream of laughter. With a single pun you had obliterated the bitter atmosphere and ceased the poor lady's tears. The underlying problems weren't fixed, but it was at least a start.

"Oh! Oh _my_! Th-that was- was quite-!" Toriel continued to giggle to herself, holding onto her sides.

"Ha, yeah, I'm learning from the best." You smiled widely, causing Toriel to have another small fit of laughter.

"But seriously," you said as she caught her breath, "we don't have to do anything drastic. We can just talk things out from now on, can't we?"

Toriel smiled at you fondly, tears of both mirth and sorrow still shining in the edges of her eyes.

"It is a deal." she said, gently clasping your hand.

Taking a deep breath to steady herself, she stood and looked down at you.

"Well, I suppose we have been here for long enough, have we not? I suggest that we go and catch up with the skeleton brothers again."

"Good call."

Despite the fact that you had been sitting on the soft grass and soil, your body was feeling uncomfortably stiff. In particular the area around your leg was feeling quite tight and twitchy, much to your dismay. You were glad that you wouldn't have to walk back yourself, since Toriel would be carrying you. Strangely you noticed that your jaw was quite stiff as well, almost as though it was on the verge of locking up. You hadn't been talking for _that_ long had you? Oh well, you were tired and ready to head back to bed anyway.

Slowly, Toriel leaned down to pick you off the grass, careful to avoid twisting your sore limbs-

 _THUMP_

You jolted and hissed in pain as your muscles stiffened. What hell was that? You didn't have much time to wonder as you looked of the ground in front of you.

Lying amidst the flowers was a human body, covered in blood and eyes partially open. The red mess had been smeared over their chest in the shape of a heart red heart.

In the space above it was a messily scrawled message:

"miss you ;)"


	15. Running out of Luck

Okay! First thing's first: IMF2099 has been doing a wonderful Spanish translation over here: s/12060465/1/Templanza (- Just add the code to the left to the end of the fanfiction . net URL to see it)

They contacted me and asked very politely to do it and they've written the entire Prologue! Even if you cannot speak Spanish please be sure to drop them some kind words. It isn't every day that someone would volunteer to use their own free time to do something as tricky as translating.

Secondly; I know that I don't have a consistent upload schedule but I think it's only fair that I let everyone know that I am going to be away for a week. This will undoubtedly push my updates back a bit (or maybe you'll get an update early idk time is an illusion sometimes).

Anyway! This here is a transition chapter- kinda like an entry to Arc 2 (which was why it was so hard to write). Things are going to start moving from here on out.

* * *

Time seemed to stand still as you stared uncomprehending at the body that had landed only two feet in front of you. It was as if an eternity passed in that moment, though in reality it had not even been three seconds. The instant that your brain finally registered the sight of dull, glassy eyes and the scent of congealing blood, you immediately panicked.

Adrenaline shot through you like a fearful bullet, ripping you back to the present so fast you were almost dizzy. The 'flight' option of your fight or flight instinct kicked into full gear as you tried to scramble backwards and away from the blood-smeared corpse. Unfortunately, your instincts had forgotten about your bad leg and you ended up stumbling and falling hard on your back. A loud _crack_ echoed as your head knocked against the hard cave floor. The scream that you would have let out ended up weak and garbled from the unexpected impact. Despite the pain and the panic, hitting your head actually gave you a moment of clarity and you quickly tried to get back in control of your emotions before you ended up hurting yourself more.

Toriel, who had been just as paralysed in horror as you had been, immediately snapped to attention at your strangled cry. She swiftly gathered your stiff and aching body up in her arms before bolting out of the room. As she ran she muttered what should have been soothing words, but instead they betrayed her terror as she stuttered and rushed her words. Some of the things she was saying didn't even seem to be directed at you, but rather herself, though you were far too occupied with your own thoughts to listen to her properly.

 _They were dead! That person was dead! Oh my god, that person was murdered!_ your mind screamed at you as you were jostled about in Toriel's fluffy arms. Though the angle they'd landed on was odd, there was no doubt that the human who had just fallen was dead well before they hit the ground. After all, you would have heard a scream, right?

A sudden thought hit you, _Who were they? I-I didn't even recognize… Oh no, they weren't one of the party, were they?_

You searched frantically through your memory back to when you had volunteered for the search party. There had been just over ten people in your group, but you couldn't match the dead human behind you to any of them. Though you hadn't known any of the other volunteers you were certain you would have recognised one of them.

What about the missing persons list then? You tried to recall every photo that had been provided by tearful relatives to your group before heading for the mountain. Unfortunately, photos made for pretty poor memories and you couldn't match any of them up in your head. Besides, from what you had seen the body was… disturbingly fresh. The earliest report was a whole day before your trip to Mt Ebott, and now you had an extra month's worth of time on top of that.

You curled up tighter in the sprinting monster's arms, torn between the nausea induced by what you had just witnessed and nausea caused by Toriel's momentum making your injured head spin. It was suddenly hard to breathe and you tried to swallow down the weird, twitching feeling that you were getting. Unfortunately nothing could stop your shaking as your thoughts swirled in your throbbing head.

 _It was them,_ your thoughts screamed, _it was the one who attacked me. They killed someone- someone I didn't even know- just to send a message. That message… Oh god, they_ murdered _someone just to scare me! Just to let me know that they're coming to finish the job! They know I'm alive and they're coming to kill-_

"S-Sans! Papyrus!"

Toriel's run came to a sudden stop. You couldn't even lift your head to look at the two brothers, too busy being caught up in your terror and the dizzying discomfort that was surging through your body.

"Tori, what's…?"

"OH MY GOSH! You look awful! I mean-! You look less composed than normal? I mean-? Everything is alright… _right_?"

"N-no, there's-" Toriel began, still shaking slightly and trying not to pant, "P-Papyrus, I need you to take the human. This is very important! You have to take them and _don't come back into the Ruins_ _until I or your brother say it is okay._ Do you understand?"

"I…? Are you sure that is necessary? Maybe-"

"Tori, what happened-?"

" _Don't argue with me_. _Just promise me you'll look after the human."_ Toriel ordered before quickly shoving your stiff form into the arms of an equally stiff Papyrus, "Sans, I need you to stay here and I will explain."

There was a brief moment where Toriel had to struggle with you. Your fingers had unconsciously curled up tightly into her robes and had to be swiftly pried off. Even once they were removed you found your hands still clenching for some reason. You squeaked out a weak ' _don't_ ' at her, unable to clarify further because your throat was locking up. You didn't understand why you were so afraid or why your body was reacting the way it was, but catching a glimpse of Toriel's purposefully stoical face made you want to reach out to her again despite it all.

"O-OKAY YOUR MAGEST- T-Toriel!" Papyrus stammered out, still confused and alarmed but somehow slipping back into his usual supportive attitude, "I'll go right away!"

And before you could do anything about it you were being whisked away again at a breakneck speed; though this time in Papyrus' thin yet surprisingly strong arms. You tried to twist yourself in his grasp and call out but your voice ended up stuck behind your reluctant jaw.

In the split second before you were carried out of the room you managed to catch a glimpse of the disturbed looking goat monster starting to lead Sans away. The skeleton was hesitating as he watched his brother sprint off with you, eye sockets pitch black and a deep worry evident in his bones.

Papyrus' speed was giving you serious motion sickness as he bolted down the long hallway that you had walked through calmly not even an hour ago. The feeling of movement combined with the pain in your muscles and the stress of seeing a dead body made you feel like you were going to pass out. Weakly, you curled up against the hard costume that Papyrus was wearing, trying and failing to ground yourself.

"H-human, what happened?" the sprinting skeleton yelled in worry, "It was something bad, wasn't it? And we were doing so well too! But now… You look sick?"

You could only manage a groan followed by a muffled gagging as you suddenly reached the end of the hallway and began to make sharp turns. Noticing your discomfort didn't slow Papyrus in the slightest. In fact he sped up, most likely wanting to get back to Toriel's house even more. As must as she had jolted you about in her panic, being carried by Toriel had been like a smooth river cruise in comparison to Papyrus' uneven steps and unexpected movements. You couldn't really see thanks to your eyes being screwed tightly shut, but it felt like his feet weren't even touching the ground half the time.

"Oh no! You really _are_ sick!" Papyrus gasped, holding you tighter, "Toriel told me all about how humans get red and sweaty when they are not well! A-and you are very red and sweaty!"

Squirming in his arms, you hissed out weak noises. _Too tight, he's holding too tight. Everything's tight. It hurts. It hurts. Can't breathe. Let go!_

Your weak attempts to twitch free of the skeleton's grasp went unnoticed as he continued to babble at you as he ran, barely keeping an eye on the path in front of him.

"This is not the way that I expected this walk to go, b-but everything will be okay!" he assured you, "You can take more time to recover and th-then we can try again! And I'll bring lots of sticks! Oh, and the blankets and toys too because they are soft! In fact I'll-"

"Watch where you're goin', pardner!"

The warning came a second too late as Papyrus suddenly tripped over something in his path. He let out an undignified yelp as he toppled forward, throwing his arms out in a useless attempt to stop his forward momentum. You were curled up too tightly in yourself to keep your grasp on the skeleton's smooth chestplate and easily fell with him.

Your eyes cracked open by the slightest degree as you fell forward, giving you a glimpse of what awaited you on the floor.

Spikes. You were in the room where Papyrus had re-activated that one puzzle. And he'd tripped right in front of the spikes.

You couldn't even scream as you felt yourself falling in slow motion. This was not the way you wanted to die. In fact, you didn't want to die at all; death by impalement just made it seem even worse. A brief thought entered your head and suggested that perhaps this was the universe's way of balancing things out. You didn't die to that knife, so instead it was ending you with a _different_ kind of dangerously sharp metal.

… That was going to be your last thought, wasn't it? Another horrifying little idea popping up exactly when you didn't need it.

Typical.

Suddenly, before you could make contact with the rows of deadly metal, Papyrus threw you to the side somehow. Your vision flickered as you tumbled, first colourless, then black like you had passed out, then deep blue. You barely registered your back hitting the ground softly as your body continued to seize painfully. Everything was equal parts too bright and too dark as you tried to gather yourself through the sudden pain.

As the blue dissolved among the clashing brightness and shadow, your whole body convulsed and everything became dull. The last thing you could remember feeling was something cold surrounding you and a burning sensation in your lungs before you passed out.

...

...

...

"... oh, I don't know… I'm sorry…"

"It's a right pickle. I ain't never seen the likes o' this. I gotta admit that I'm plumb outta ideas, sonny."

You slowly drifted into consciousness, still surrounded by darkness but feeling remarkably pain free. Colours drifted in front of your eyes without you being able to really comprehend them and you blinked hard. Everything seemed to be swirling even though you weren't moving your head.

"... oh, uh … are you okay…...?"

You raised a hand to your head. Like the colours, you couldn't quite understand what the sounds around you were supposed to mean. Everything felt so light. Your head, your arm, your body… so, so light. And strangely numb on top of that. What happened?

"Wha- H-HUMAN!?"

Oh god! That was loud!

You flinched hard, clasping both your hands over the sides of your head and squeezing your eyes shut. A distant part of your mind recognized the nasally tone as something familiar, but that didn't mean it didn't hurt.

"What's that there? Somethin' wrong, boy?"

"The human! The human is-!"

Pressing harder against your head you pulled yourself inwards. Why was that one voice so loud? It was causing a weird feeling inside of you that you couldn't pinpoint; something akin to the nervous excitement you would feel when you reach the top of a roller-coaster. You had absolutely no idea why you'd come up with that comparison, but it was accurate. And uncomfortable.

As you held yourself still the feeling began to quickly warp and swirl around inside you. Your teeth grit your teeth together as you held your body stiff, trying to get yourself under control.

Instantly the weird feeling transformed into something that you could only describe as claustrophobia, which only made you shrink into yourself even more. You were glad that nothing had touched you yet because you were kinda panicking. If anything disturbed you now you knew that you would only jump and hurt yourself. Focusing on keeping yourself calm, you took a deep breath and tried to sort out what exactly you were feeling.

The claustrophobia began to disappear the more you focused on unwinding the panic you had built up within you. Soon you were feeling waves of relief and a few loose nerves that you would have to sort through. That was good. After everything that had happened, a panic attack was the last thing you wanted to deal with.

With a final breath you let your hands drop away from your head and carefully opened your eyes.

"You OK there, pardner?" asked the rock that you were currently face to face with.

The sight made you sit upright in confusion. Sitting innocently on the purple floor was a lumpy grey rock. It had absolutely no facial features, or even any notable features at all considering that it was a _rock_ , but you somehow felt as though it was looking right at you.

"Huh?" you answered intelligently.

"'S just that you're actin' mighty odd there. I guess I can understand, considerin' the situation. Everythin's right twisted."

"Oh no! It's actually OK! The human is alright!"

Oh, now you recognized the voice. It was Papyrus, of course. No one else you had ever met could possibly be as ear-shatteringly loud as him, especially in normal conversation.

Whipping your head around you expected to see the tall skeleton standing somewhere behind you. However, all you spotted was the floating dummy to your right.

"... are you sure everything is alright…...?" the ghost hidden in the stuffing asked, tilting its head like a sad, worn doll.

Again you heard Papyrus' voice answer, "Yes! Everything is fine! I think…?"

Okay, now you were really confused. How hard was it to spot a six foot something skeleton monster in a home-made hero costume? You knew he had to be somewhere close by.

Confused, you looked around again. There was no one behind you or towering above, the dummy was floating to your right while the rock sat still on your left, in front of you-

Was a completely drenched human who looked a lot like you.

There was a moment where you stared blankly at the soaked body in front of you that was highly reminiscent of when you had been staring down that unfortunate corpse earlier. The human on the floor was completely still. The longer you stared, the more that strange feeling inside of you twisted into a strange combination of panic and assurance. It was like it was trying to stop you from freaking out.

Well, at least it tried.

You shot bolt upright, only then realising that you had been sitting on your knees the entire time. You quickly discovered that moving so fast was a huge mistake as you suddenly developed vertigo. You had no idea that you could stand up so fast! And the ground was suddenly so far away-! In an almost perfect recreation of your actions earlier that day, you flailed, stumbled backwards, and hit the ground again with a terrified squawk.

"Woah, hold your horses there, sonny!"

"... oh no! What's wrong….?"

You kept your fear internal as you glanced down at 'your' legs. They were so thin, like bone, but covered with a thin, black material so that you couldn't actually see them. Large red boots were covering your feet, though they looked distant thanks to the length of the legs they were attached to. A quick survey of your chest and hands showed you even more of the black cloth covering your arms and impossibly small midsection. A white chestplate covered your upper body. It was hard and shiny, partially covered by a slightly worn red scarf of some sort. Your gloved hands were made of thick material that still left room for each finger to move comfortably.

You almost looked like Papyrus. Almost. Everything was just a _bit_ off, but the thought short-circuited you nonetheless.

"W-what happened? What's going on?" you asked frantically, eyes darting between your new, faintly rattling body and the unnervingly still copy of yourself lying in a puddle on the floor.

"... h-huh? … I don't get it…."

"Are you feelin' alright there boy?"

"I- I think it's very complicated!"

Again you jolted at the sound of the familiar voice. You weren't mistaken, it was definitely Papyrus who had been speaking before. But where was he? He wasn't- you couldn't be-?

"I think the human is inside of my head now!" he declared from somewhere that sounded like it was both within your head and right next to you.

The words made you freeze up. There was no way you were inside of Papyrus' head. That didn't make any sense!

As if agreeing with your thoughts, the rock spoke up again, "Now I'm sorry to say it, but that don't make a lick of sense!"

"But it's tru-You're right!"

You almost choked on nothing as words tripped and spilled out of your mouth. For another moment you sat there unnerved before you dared to speak again.

"No, no, I can't be in anyone's head!" you laughed nervously, as though anything about what was happening was actually funny. "This- this isn't even what Papyrus looks like! There was none of this… black material on his costume a-and he wears oven mitts, not gloves. H-how would anyone even _cook_ with these things? Ha ha…"

You trailed off as you felt your hands beginning to shake slightly. Planting them firmly on the floor you turned your head to study a nearby wall. Maybe you could just treat it like you had treated the knife in your leg: ignore it and don't look at it until the panic subsides. Except instead of just your leg you were now desperately trying to ignore everything in the entire room.

"... Well I'll be damned. Are you actually tellin' the truth thar, pardner?"

"Yes- No? YES."

You slammed a gloved hand over your mouth. Why were you saying things to contradict yourself? A sinking feeling crawled through you as you realised the two different tones your voice had taken on. One was loud and boisterous, and sounded pretty much exactly like Papyrus'. The other was slightly softer with the high-pitched and nasally edge weakened to a degree where it was just barely noticeable. The second one didn't sound like your voice, but it had said what you'd wanted to say, as opposed to Papyrus' voice which had claimed the opposite.

A deep, unsettling worry sat heavily in your gut and only got worse when you realised that you didn't _have_ a gut, only a cloth-covered spine. There were a few other things you noticed you were lacking as well; like lips. You could feel the bumps and ridges of teeth underneath the thick glove you'd planted over your face. Curling the ends of your fingers allowed you to brush over the backs of them through a hole where your cheek would normally be.

If you had a heartbeat you imagined it would be going a mile a minute at these discoveries, but for some reason you couldn't feel one inside you and you shivered. As a substitute you could feel something flowing, not in the way that your blood flowed with powerful pumps and pulses, but in the way that water runs constantly down a river or into a swirling whirlpool.

Without your input your hand was removed from your mouth and your body sat straight.

"Human, it is OK!" Papyrus' voice suddenly came from your mouth, "This is very confusing, but I believe that we can overcome this challenge together!"

You didn't respond. Your mind felt like white noise. You couldn't comprehend how anything that was happening was actually real.

Your gaze drifted to the body that lay soaked on the ground. As carefully as you could with your unfamiliar, lanky body, you returned to kneeling by its side.

It was undoubtedly you, even if the majority of your mind refused to accept it. You'd never seen yourself outside of mirrors and photos, so looking at the body in front of you left you feeling… disturbed? Disconnected? Like you weren't a real person? There was a name for that, you were sure. Something along the lines of… dissociation?

With shaking hands you started to check the body's vitals. While you couldn't understand what was happening or why, you did recognise the signs of drowning: drenched in water, not breathing, absent heartbeat. … Shouldn't you be doing something about that? Other members of the search party had been better prepared than you for an emergency, but you did learn a few things. Like the basics of resuscitation.

Using one of the red gloved hands you turned, uh, your(?) head to the side. The next step was compressions to the chest. It was the same thing that you'd seen in on TV a million times, only in real life.

 _And without the mouth to mouth,_ you thought numbly to yourself as you remembered you had huge gaps in your face. There was no way you could properly push air into the body's lungs without cheeks, after all.

Suddenly, after a few mindless repeated compressions, the unexpected happened. The body that looked so much like you shot out a small amount of water from its mouth. The sudden action surprised you so much that you snapped out of your trance and flinched back.

"Well would ya look at that! I dinn't think you could actually do anythin!"

Running on autopilot you checked… _your_ body over. A small amount of water had escaped it, sure, but not much had changed. All you had managed to do was push some water out of the lungs. It was still unconscious, not coughing and spluttering like it should be. It still wasn't breathing. Its heartbeat was still inaudible…

"I… I don't know what to do." you mumbled numbly. You were honestly so lost. What the hell were you doing? You didn't even really know. Everything was… surreal.

"Don't give up!" Papyrus' voice suddenly shot out of you, loud and encouraging, "You're doing so well! Keep going!"

You cringed as soon as the body you were in decided register your reactions again. It was like some kind of weird dream where you weren't always in control of your actions, but could predict where you were going to go and what you were going to do a split second before it happened. Everything was unsettling. Now would be the perfect moment to wake up…

But you were still sitting by your own mysteriously drowned corpse, not going anywhere. For a lack of anything else to keep you from breaking apart, you continued talking.

"I can't get air. Their- My-? The lungs. The lungs need air pushed into them. There's no one to help. Rocks and dummies can't give CPR."

You suddenly let out a strange and hysterical giggle at your own words. No. This was too much. You were trying so hard and yet… how was anyone supposed to deal with a situation like yours? This was really happening and despite your best efforts you just couldn't keep calm. There was a dead body if front of you that looked like yours, you didn't have full control of your actions and you were somehow occupying someone else's head. You wanted to laugh and cry and scream all at the same time, yet you somehow couldn't figure out how to do any of those things. Your mixed emotions were overwhelming you to the point where you couldn't feel anything.

Though you weren't focused on it, the strange feelings that didn't belong to you were caught up in your internal struggle as well. It sensed your quickly changing mood and the sea of conflict you were failing to stay on top of and suddenly transformed into resolve. That was why, as you slipped into the backseat of your mind and slowly lost yourself to the panic that you'd pushed away earlier, your black cloth covered arms picked up the drenched body in front of you.

"So all we need to do is get air into your body?" Papyrus' voice asked as you found yourself standing, "Then let's do that! We can't give up now! Like any good puzzle there must be a solution hiding around here somewhere!"

Without your input you began to move, Papyrus encouraging the two other monsters to give suggestions as to how to fix the body in your arms. His enthusiasm barely grazed you as you mentally pulled in on yourself. Even though you were in the depths of panic you still couldn't manage to have the emotional outburst you so desperately needed. You had too much to sort through and your normally paranoid thoughts had all transformed into static.

Though you were still caught in the depths of your own mind, you still made out the words that were stage whispered out of your mouth: "I told Toriel that I would look after you, human. I promise, no matter what, that you will be alright!"


	16. Planning with Papyrus

Yay, back from my trip! Now I can internet again!

(Disclaimer: this Chapter isn't as long as the previous ones but that was mostly because I didn't want it to drag on... Padding is something I struggle with.)

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It was a strange sensation to watch someone interact with the world through their eyes. There was nothing you could really compare it to. Saying that it was like watching a 3D movie would be an injustice; you could feel every movement and somehow knew which way you would turn a split second before it happened. You were synchronized with the body you were inhabiting, yet you could withdraw yourself into your own mind and still be moving about and talking.

Well, not really. It wasn't you who was talking and doing things, that was Papyrus.

From the moment it had finally set in that you were somehow stuck in the same body, you were constantly aware of the other presence in your shared head. It wasn't as if you could read Papyrus' thoughts or anything (which would have made the whole thing even weirder now that you thought about it), but you could sense him around you just as easily as you could watch his actions. Right now he was carrying the rock monster in one arm and cradling your body with the other, the trapped ghost somehow floating fast enough to keep up with his incredibly long steps.

"... Froggits can hold a lot of air in their necks, I think..." the possessed dummy suggested timidly as it hovered over, um, your?, no... Papyrus' shoulder, "Not that I've ever talked to one... or had a neck... So I wouldn't really know..."

"Sorry to say, but all them Froggits aren't gonna be out near the main path for a while," the rock spoke up from under yo- _Papyrus'_ arm, "Ms Toriel made plenty sure of that. She dun come runnin' out this mornin', makin' sure that us rock fellas were gonna be working today. Also mentioned that all the other monsters in the Ruins needed to give a good, wide berth to the main puzzles. All them folks will likely be shut in at Home."

"Ugh, another plan down! How disheartening!" Papyrus hummed. It was still hard to believe that his voice was coming _from_ you rather than _next_ to you. You chalked it up to the fact that, due to being a skeleton, you couldn't feel any vibrations from your vocal chords, "Still, we mustn't give up! Wait... Why were you not at the puzzle if Toriel asked specifically for you to be there!? For someone who is an such an integral part of the Ruins to show up late... Is- is it possible that you don't _like_ being a living puzzle piece!? OH NO! Say it isn't so!"

"It _ain't_ so. We rocks have been tending to that specific puzzle for a long time. Why, it'd fall apart without us! 'S just that today we had a hiccup. You see, these lil homeless spider fellas done gone and made a web on one o' my work buddies. We had this awful time tryin' to explain to the poor thing that they couldn't live on a hard workin' rock's back. Now I did try to get back and tell the ol' gal 'bout our situation, but we rock folk aren't known for bein' all that fast..."

As the subject changed you remained silent. Anyone else in your position would have become frustrated and tried to steer the topic back to reviving your body, but you didn't do a thing. Actually, you hadn't done anything at all since Papyrus had started walking; no talking, no awkwardly moving the unfamiliar body about- you were completely withdrawn in almost every way. From an outside perspective it would seem that you didn't exist; that the body being carried about by the large skeleton was an indicator that you were currently very dead and nothing else. They would be half right. You _were_ dead. Just... not entirely.

But that thought didn't upset you.

Well, it was more like it _couldn't_ upset you.

Sure, you had been panicking for a while, but that was before you felt Papyrus' mood suddenly shift. Ever since he had declared that he would keep his promise to ensure your safety, you had been constantly feeling waves of comfort and encouragement washing over you from his direction. It was practically impossible to feel sad when so many positive feelings were being pushed into your head space.

It seemed that, just as you could feel his emotions, Papyrus could feel yours, and he was trying his absolute best to keep you from getting discouraged. You were kind of impressed at how he could hold a conversation with two other people and simultaneously bombard you with enough good feelings to keep you from melting down. You could almost feel grateful. Except that you _weren't_.

It was an uncomfortable cycle. First, your thoughts would wander to your surreal situation, creating a deep instinctual panic followed closely by despair. Next, Papyrus would notice your downward spiral and send a tidal wave of positivity your way. Finally, the clash would result in both emotions meeting in your mind and nullifying each other, leaving you feeling totally lost.

You weren't sad. You weren't happy. You weren't anything.

It wasn't that Papyrus was squashing you on purpose; more likely he thought he was helping you by getting rid of all those nasty depressed feelings. It wasn't even possible for you to tell him what he was basically breaking you. With your emotions nullified not only could you not send your feelings back at him to show your discomfort, you also had no motivation to speak up and tell him what was wrong.

Indeed, everything was positive in Papyrus Land and you were trapped firmly within its borders with no idea how to get out. There was nothing to do but remain silent, caught firmly in between regaining your hope and losing yourself completely to despair.

"Ah! I've got it!" Papyrus suddenly declared, another wave of foreign hope invading your unprotected mind, "I know where Sans keeps those ridiculous sounding air bags in our room! Perhaps they can finally be put to a good use rather than his usual japes! What do you think, human? Will that work?"

It took you a moment to realise that you were finally being addressed, and then a moment longer to find the will to actually speak.

"... You... want to stick a whoopie cushion down my throat?"

It was strange, having to answer from the same mouth that the question had come from. You couldn't imagine how weird it must look to someone lacking context. One moment they would see an incredibly tall and jovial skeleton speaking loudly at no one in particular, and the next thing they knew that same monster would take on a completely different posture and tone to answer himself. It was like you were the living TV drama stereotype for a split personality.

Like everything else that was going on, you didn't know how to feel about that.

"Yes! If that's alright with you?" Papyrus answered.

"I, uh, don't know if that will work. I mean, it's unlikely," you answered lamely.

"But there is a chance? Then we must do it! I know that it will work if we try! After all, humans are incredibly strong! I, for one, was surprised when you first woke up and didn't even care that your leg was... _leaking_? I did not know that humans leaked!"

"I...? That wasn't...? I don't think you understand?"

You frowned to yourself as Papyrus stopped walking. Everything was so difficult. Feeling was difficult, thinking was difficult... You didn't know what to do or say. A stab wound to the leg wasn't at all like drowning. How had you drowned? You were pretty sure your body had perished by drowning, but that seemed... impossible?

Regardless, that wasn't your main problem. Your main problem was trying to explain how the human body worked to a monster made entirely of magic and bones. Worse, you had to explain to Papyrus, who could misinterpret things faster than you could say ' _No, linguine is not a language_ '.

And this was all while you were barely keeping your focus over the uncomfortable mess that was your (lack of) emotions.

"Is there something else you need, human?" he asked, sensing your hesitation.

"I need... you to understand," you began slowly, "humans are very complicated. I don't think we can do this. It's not like... I, uh...? ...? ..."

 _Focus. Deep breaths,_ you thought to yourself as you trailed off, _you need to do something. You're... you've got a dead body here and you're trapped in someone else's mind. That needs to be... not like that, probably. I need to think. It's hard to think... Just... what are the facts? The simple facts..._

Mustering up as much energy as you could, you started again.

"Human's have, uh, time limits. After they're dead, I mean. And when it's over you can't revive them any more."

There. It wasn't a very apt explanation, but it was a start.

You had doubts about being able to revive your body and you wanted to voice them, but you couldn't. The skeleton's good intentions were driving you to distraction. Each wave of hope he pushed onto you cancelled out the anxiety and panic that would have probably given you more motivation to fix everything. Without their direction you were left feeling completely detached from your situation. Only logic and the bare basics were keeping you going.

"I don't really get it," Papyrus muttered, "but I guess I'll just believe you! What is the time limit?"

"... I don't remember."

"Oh. Then we should just assume that we have not run out of time!"

...

That wasn't what you'd wanted to hear.

You retreated into your mind again. It was obvious that Papyrus still didn't understand what you were trying to say. Then again, you barely understood what you were talking about either. With the way that you were feeling (or rather, not feeling) you knew that it would take too long to explain yourself fully. If only you had some motivation or control. You couldn't feel sad enough to react properly to the situation, and you certainly weren't going to start being happy for no reason. You were already dead, so why not just give up and go back to sitting numbly?

The only other option you had was trying to overpower Papyrus' emotions right back, purposefully pushing him down with the full weight of your panic and anxiety. If you did that you could take the situation into your own hands instead of struggling to explain yourself while enduring the skeleton's forced cheer. Despite the strength of Papyrus' positivity, you felt if you tried hard enough, if you became _really_ determined to do it, you could suppress him in the same way that he was suppressing you. One great shove would put you firmly in control... at the cost of his free will.

You'd already done it slightly by accident when you first awoke, locking up his voice and movements in order to gain your bearings. It wouldn't be a big leap from that to a complete shut down.

But you weren't going to do that. There was something instinctual inside of you that ran even deeper than your emotions. Something that told you even though you could force your will over the excitable skeleton, you shouldn't. It was... wrong somehow, though you couldn't focus hard enough to figure out why.

It was the only reason you held back.

"Hmm, I think that what they're tryin' to say is that you might be needin' a lil more than a funny soundin' bag of air, pardner. If there's a time limit on your friend's body here, you should probly be seekin' out someone who knows what they're doin'."

Oh? You had almost forgotten about the other two monsters. It seemed that while you were struggling with Papyrus' unwavering positivity, the rock had understood and considered the problems you were trying to point out. Maybe your body would survive after all. That was nice, you supposed.

"Ah! That's a great idea! We should definitely ask for help!" Papyrus exclaimed, somehow radiating with even more hope.

"You'll be needin' a monster who knows about humans then," the rock under your arm hummed, "yer friend, Ms Toriel, might be able to help. She's looked after plenty of 'em."

"O-oh. I, er, nyeh heh... Th-that isn't really something that I can do. I kind of promised a few things? And the Great Papyrus would never go back on his word!"

You felt your curiosity tweak as Papyrus stuttered slightly. It was only for a brief moment, but you had felt a strange emotion spark off of him when Toriel was mentioned. Something along the lines of... fear? No, that was too strong a description. It was more complicated than that. Thinking about it, you were reminded of the feeling of being scolded as a child, or knowing that you had severely disappointed someone and having to face the consequences. The strange thing was, you somehow felt that Papyrus wasn't the most concerned about _Toriel's_ reaction...

"Actually, I just remembered! We're not supposed to be in the Ruins anymore! In all the excitement I completely forgot!"

For once your emotions actually worked in sync with Papyrus' as recollection wove its way between the two of you. Both of you had forgotten about the recent events, easily letting them slip your mind as soon as you'd found yourselves in your... current situation. But really, who could blame you? At least you had remembered _eventually_! And you were coincidentally walking in the right direction, so that was a plus! The fact was, there was something possibly dangerous going on behind you and you needed to leave quickly to reduce any risk to yourselves or others.

"...oh, you're leaving the Ruins?" the dummy finally spoke up, snapping you from your thoughts.

Odd. In that moment where you and Papyrus had been thinking and feeling similar things, you had felt-

"Yes!" Papyrus declared loudly, "It is very important that I leave the Ruins with the human and keep them safe! Well, as safe as I can, considering...?"

"... oh, w-well I... can I... go with you? ... maybe? ... please... ?"

The miserable tone of the ghost's voice was so full of hesitant hope that you honestly didn't know if it was you or Papyrus speaking when you immediately said, "Of course!"

"... oh... th-thank goodness..." grateful tears shone in the corners of the possessed dummy's button eyes, "... I live in Waterfall... actually, there might be someone there who can help... if we go together I could point the way to Gerson... he's a really old monster so... he might know what to do..."

"Wonderful! Everything is coming together!"

You tried to brace yourself against the powerful surge of enthusiasm that was unleashed thanks to the ghost's innocent suggestion. Unfortunately, the shared sympathy you had felt for the sad dummy had left you open and vulnerable to the new waves. As you were once again left spinning in your own mind, the rock decided that it wanted to be placed down.

"The rest of the Underground's not really my area of expertise," it explained as it sat heavily on the purple brick floor, "Like I said, we rock folk aren't ones for long distance travel. 'Sides, I got a long family tradition to keep up! That puzzle ain't gonna man itself!"

"Wowie! Your dedication is so inspiring!"

... That was strange. You didn't know that it was possible to _feel_ the lights shining in your- er, Papyrus'- eye sockets. You'd kinda assumed that it was something that happened without his knowing, but now you knew that wasn't possible. The constant hum in his bones (the one that you were now assuming was his magic) had slightly redirected itself into his skull and created the feeling of small sparks. It left you wondering if he actually did it on purpose.

"Don't you worry about it, sonny. Tell you what, I'll even keep an eye out for you back here. If I see Ms Toriel or your brother I'll tell 'em that you're safe and headed for Waterfall. Hopefully everythin' will be right as rain on your end by the time that happens."

"Er- Y-yes! Of course! Come along- Um, what was your name again?"

"... oh, I never introduced myself... I'm so sorry... I'm Napstablook... but you don't have to remember that... I know it's very long..."

"That is a wonderful name! Well then! Let's go and find...! That guy that you said! And then everything will be okay!"


	17. Reflection

Er, if you would like to look at those arts I drew, here's the link to them on my art Tumblr paranoidpantherspatterns.

Honestly, I would have liked to upload something a bit more arty than the base concepts themselves, but I knew I wouldn't be uploading this chapter without getting this stuff out of the way first. Here's hoping I find my tablet soon...

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"-and so I patrolled every day and made absolutely sure that everything was up to standard! In fact, I made sure it was beyond the standards! It was a brand new standard! The Papyrus standard! Though I _have_ been off duty for a while..."

You'd been walking through a snowy area of the Underground for quite a while now. The trip through Toriel's house had been completely uneventful. Even watching yourself and the two monsters passing through the mysterious basement door didn't stir up anything inside you. It was just a big door that let you pass from one area to another, much like any other door. No big deal.

If you weren't so distracted you probably would have taken in the view with a bit more interest. The new area was about as big as the ruined city Toriel had briefly shown you and there were giant trees growing around you in the hundreds. The roof of the cave was something you only ever caught glimpses of thanks to the pale mist that twisted its way far above your head. Besides that, there were also little sights to see, such as a few barely-there puzzles covered up by the snow. You should have found it interesting, maybe even listened to Papyrus' excited ramblings about what each puzzle was for, how it worked, why it was important for sentries like himself to re-calibrate them… But, eh. Who cared?

Not you.

Papyrus had gotten even worse with drowning you in positive feelings thing. It seemed that the longer you remained silent and docile in his head, the more he realised that you were behaving abnormally. You could feel a tight ball of nerves forming over in his corner of the weird mindspace you were both occupying, unreachable behind everything else that was constantly being forced on top of you. Despite the exuberant energy that he seemed to be emitting on every other front, he was fretting over you just as much as he had when you were still alive and hobbling around.

The difference was that when you were alive you had been motivated to fix your broken body; now you were technically dead and didn't care at all. You were slipping into an endless pool of apathy and you both knew it. But how could the Great Papyrus possibly fix it? Why, by doing the one thing that he did best: sending even _more_ positivity your way!

And also talking. A lot.

"-but then she told me that dogs were actually colour blind! It was no wonder they did so little maintenance when they couldn't tell a red panel from a green one!" Papyrus had been going non-stop since you'd left the rock behind, barely stopping for breath as you walked, "So it was up to me ( _and sometimes my brother_ ) to nobly step forward and take all re-calibration duties upon- Oh my gosh! We're here already!"

The three(?) of you suddenly stopped as you began to properly take in your surroundings. You had reached a small town of some sorts. It was simple and cozy looking and dressed in the reds and greens of Christmas despite being the entirely wrong time of year. Each quaint little wooden building basically screamed promises of crackling fireplaces and warm cups of hot chocolate. You even spied a decorated fir tree further along the path, right before Papyrus unexpectedly ducked behind a large, snow-covered billboard that read something along the lines of 'Snowdin'.

"... oh? what's wrong...?" The ghost- Napstablook, wasn't it? They were right about it being a mouthful- questioned as they moved behind the sign to join you.

"I-it's nothing!" Papyrus quickly defended, poorly masking his sudden nerves. And it _was_ nerves that he was feeling, because you could sense the tight ball of tension on his end grow slightly bigger as he lied to the floating dummy.

"... Are you shy?" the sad ghost asked quietly before quickly realising what they'd said, "….. oh no… I'm so sorry, I shouldn't just guess what-"

"Y-yes! That's it! I'm shy! Terribly shy! The shy-iest! That is why we shouldn't let anyone know we are here!"

You may have not had access to many of your emotions, but you had enough to feel a prick of suspicion. There was no way that Papyrus, the infinitely friendly and overly sociable skeleton, would suddenly feel shy for no reason. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately?), despite what you could gather from his incredibly blatant emotions, you could not read his mind. You honestly had no idea what sparked the skeleton's sudden wave of caution.

 _Maybe my body is the problem here,_ you thought to yourself, uncharacteristically calm even though your mind was still coming up with unpleasant thoughts, _Toriel and Sans both said that humans like me would be killed if any other monsters found me. But I'm already dead, so what does it matter?_

If you'd been thinking straight you probably would have remembered that being found with a dead body was generally a bad thing, but to your unemotional mind there didn't seem to be any real reason for Papyrus to suddenly feel panic. Sure, he was holding the dead body of a human, but that wasn't as big a problem as it would seem. As your trio left the Ruins, you discovered that his scarf was now (for some reason) incredibly long and split down the middle. It ended up being incredibly useful as he decided to wrap your body in it so thoroughly and neatly that, given your surroundings, it could easily be mistaken for a big red Christmas rug. Additionally, thanks to Papyrus' inexpiable strength, you didn't even need both arms to carry it; simply slinging it limply under one elbow in a way that would have been disturbingly casual to anyone who knew what was going on, but barely interesting to everyone else.

Part of you wasn't even convinced that Papyrus was trying to avoid anyone seeing your corpse. Heck, he didn't even seem to understand the gravity of human death (not that you were being any help) or even have knowledge that monsters outside of the Ruins supposedly killed humans. So why was he worried? What did any of you have to gain from being stealthy in such a sleepy little town?

Your dizzy little mind couldn't figure it out, so you simply slipped back into not caring.

"... Don't worry, I get it…." Napstablook sighed in understanding, "... It happens sometimes….. We can go the long way around… I used to phase through the forest around this area…. oh…... Sometimes there were just too many people for me…..."

"Excellent! Let's go that way then!" Papyrus yelled as he bounded towards the treeline with great enthusiasm. He didn't even wait for Napstab- _ugh, too long_ \- the dummy to point the way, just picking a spot between the trees and stomping hurriedly through them, snapping several clumps of twigs on the way. For a guy who didn't want to be noticed, he was doing a pretty good job of potentially attracting someone's attention.

"... oh, but…. I said….. I phased through things….. When I was incorporeal…" the ghost weakly muttered as you, or rather, _Papyrus_ , twisted through the dark trunks of the trees.

"That is okay! We'll forge a new path! One specifically for people who are not incorporeal!"

You sat passively as you watched through Papyrus' eyes. It was surprisingly difficult to navigate through the snow and plants. Each towering tree grew snugly next to its neighbors as though they didn't want to waste the Underground's limited space. And yet somehow the snow was still piled high between them, coming almost a quarter of the way up your shockingly long legs. If it wasn't for the fact that Papyrus was a skeleton, you might not have had the space to wind through them at all.

Through the densely packed trees you could see monsters of all kinds shuffling through the snow as they did whatever it was that they did in their cozy Christmas town. Most of them seemed to be animals of different varieties, though mostly the fur covered kind. There was a particular air surrounding each of them; something along the lines of deep sadness. Not that you could really pin it down properly, given that you could hardly reach your own emotions. It just seemed that on top of the jolliness and warmth given off by the town, there was also a strange fog of depression. It made the whole place radiate a weird, melancholy atmosphere.

Suddenly you stopped. Well, again, Papyrus had stopped, not you. You couldn't really identify why, even though you could literally see the world through his eyes.

He was staring at a certain spot through the trees that seemed much like every other you had passed. The only vaguely interesting thing out there was a house that was significantly bigger than the others. And yet... it stirred something inside of you- uh, inside of Papyrus. He was really interested in whatever he was looking at.

It took you a moment, but you realised that whatever he was feeling was similar to the townspeople, only with a hint of Papyrus Brand Happiness instead of gloom. What the heck was that? It felt like fondness and mourning all at once...

Oh. It was nostalgia. Both a fond memory and the sadness of knowing it had passed. Such a poetic feeling.

"... What's wrong?" Napstablook finally asked. They'd stopped around the same time as you, but hadn't spoken up about it immediately (most likely out of fear that they'd be bothering the both of you if they did).

Papyrus immediately jumped several feet in the air and the spark of shock that jumped off of him hit you like a punch square to the face, " _Huh_?! N-nothing! Nothing is wrong at all!"

You weren't the only one left reeling by the sudden outburst as the little ghost darted away from you as if they'd been physically pushed.

"... o-oh... oh no… I'm sorry I-I didn't mean to…"

"What? No, no, no, no, no, no, no!" Papyrus immediately waved his free arm frantically as he tried to bring the trembling dummy back from the verge of tears, "What I meant to say was that I was distracted! Uh, distracted by… this wonderful idea that I just had! We should take a detour!"

A part of you wanted to say that you were already on a detour. In fact, the entire trip beyond Toriel's house was basically a _giant_ detour. Of course, you didn't exactly have the motivation to say any of those things (especially after the wave of shock you'd just been socked in the face with), so you remained silent as Papyrus weaved his lanky body out of the woods in a flash, almost abandoning the poor ghost behind you.

He sprinted over to the large house, glancing quickly both ways to check that no one was looking before gleefully inspecting it. The house you stood in front of was a two story wood cabin with a porch and a seemingly unreachable upper deck. Like many of the other houses, it was made mostly of wood; from the slate roof, to the log walls, to the carved front door. It even had a stone chimney covered in a layer of snow up on the rooftop. There was another, smaller building off to the side which could have been a part of the property, but you couldn't really tell. Besides, Papyrus' eyes were focused solely on the main building and you didn't care to tear them away. It was rather bare and the windows were dark, but you could tell that just being near it made him excited and insanely curious.

"Human! Nap-ghost!" he declared as he quickly beckoned for the dummy to follow him around to the right side of the building, "This house here was once very important! For, you see, the Great Papyrus used to live here!"

You glanced up at the building, a little surprised at the information. Papyrus used to live in such a big house? Not including the basement, Toriel's house almost seemed smaller in comparison. It was strange to think he had downgraded so much. If it was just him and Sans who'd lived there, then he probably would have been able to have his own room rather than being forced to share with his brother; something you were used to him complaining about.

"... um... I-it's a very nice house... Why did you leave?" Napstablook asked and you prepared yourself to only half listen to whatever unnecessarily expansive story Papyrus was about to spend the next twenty minutes sharing.

During your walk over, you had observed that despite their terrible social anxiety, the ghost seemed to be compelled to give little inputs like this whenever there was a long enough silence. You guessed that they were really terrified of awkward pauses, and so tried to give encouragement or come up with a question to keep the chatty skeleton going. Still, it was a bit strange.

You'd originally thought that the sad dummy was intimidated by Toriel and the skeleton brothers because they were too loud- with Papyrus being the loudest and most attention grabbing of the three- but they kept prompting him to talk more and more. In fact, the tall skeleton's sociability and child-like self-importance almost acted as a compliment to the ghost's more withdrawn personality. They mumbled out new prompts with an almost practiced ease, allowing Papyrus to create a blanket of white noise to fill the silence and prevent the sad ghost from bearing the brunt of any conversation.

As you pulled yourself away from your observations, you noticed that Papyrus had already been talking for at least a full minute.

"-so it was not actually my idea to move! Sans was always the one who payed the rent. He probably didn't argue because there was no way that lazybones wanted to walk from here to the Ruins every! Even if it was to visit his pun friend and the new human! Also, Toriel insisted it would be easier because she didn't like leaving the Ruins door open for us all the time… Maybe she didn't like the snow getting in?"

There was a slight pause as Papyrus peered through one of the windows. He was obviously very curious about what had become of his old home, so much so that he was willing to forget that he might be trespassing. Your body was so tall that you actually had to lean down slightly instead of standing on your toes just to look in. From what you could make out from the unlit kitchen and living room, no one was currently living there. Aside from the unnecessarily tall kitchen sink, the house had barely any character; not even a single table for furnishing.

"Even though moving in with Toriel was great, I really did like living here. I had my own room with a computer and the living room had a TV in it. Toriel's house doesn't even have outlets! I've probably missed so much! There's no way that I can upload great pictures of myself to my adoring fans when the Ruins have no Undernet connection!"

Papyrus sighed in irritation as he stared forlornly at the empty rooms, "Then again, the power in the house wasn't really working before we left. For some reason I couldn't get my computer to boot up and the TV only showed static! Sans said something was broken and he wouldn't let me try and fix it! It was _so boring_!"

Behind you, you heard Napstablook mumble something about television shows, but it was so quiet that you could almost convince yourself that they'd said nothing at all. Papyrus didn't even notice as he continued to ramble on about the house.

"I don't know _why_ he wouldn't let me re-calibrate the power. From what I saw, surge boxes are basically switch puzzles with a few wires thrown in! I could have solved it! But at the same time the Royal Guard was becoming lazy and there was nothing left for me to do inside _or_ outside! That was when Sans suddenly turned around and said that he had someone to introduce me to! And that's how I met Toriel! It was a great day! Except for when she made a pun about skeletons! Then it was suddenly a not-so-great day! I should have known that any acquaintance of Sans' would end up being a reckless pun-slinging hooligan at heart!"

Like many of the tales your skeletal head-buddy had told as you walked through the snow, that one should have at least made you smile. You still didn't care enough to react to the story, but something in the window did manage to catch your attention.

"It really did seem like he was getting lazier since he wasn't really going to his jobs anymore, but then I realised that he wasn't sleeping as much and Toriel said he was actually really help-Why do you look like that?"

Your abrupt interruption lapped awkwardly over Papyrus' and he stopped mid-sentence. He instantly checked behind him as if he would find you standing there questioning him and blinked in confusion when he found nothing. It took a second before he remembered that you were stuck in his head while your corpse hung heavily from the crook of his elbow, but when he did he suddenly started to smile.

"Oh! Human! You're talking again!" he cheered, lighting up both on the inside and out. You simply sat there, detached as his overjoyed feelings swept around you, "Um… What did you say about something looking like something?"

"That." you clarified as you turned your shared head back to the window, "Why do you look like that?"

Staring back at you from the partial reflection in the glass was a skeleton who kind of looked like Papyrus... except not. You had already known that the both of you were way taller than you should have been (perhaps even taller than Toriel) and that there some major changes had occurred to the hero costume the skeleton had been wearing that day, but seeing- _your? His?_ \- face was really strange.

It was still the same smiling skull that you were used to, but with a little extra. First of all, Papyrus' cheekbones had weird lines carved into them that traveled from the bottom of each eye to both corners of his mouth. His canines were noticeably longer and sharper to a point where the upper teeth slotted neatly beside the lower set like some kind of skeletal vampire. Strangely enough, despite his clothing not being a part of his body, he also had blue shoulder plates sitting firmly over the rounded sleeves of his hard shirt. There was also a very tiny pink dot in his left eye- no, wait, it was a white dot in his right eye- wait, no, that wasn't right...

On closer inspection you could see that the lights in his eyes were switching at a rapid pace, one lighting up pink before dying out before the white iris abruptly appeared in the opposite eye. You dully wondered if Sans was capable of the same thing with his own eye-lights and what it meant. The little dots did kind of remind you of the other skeleton back in the Ruins, though with more pink and rapid-fire flickering.

"Is… that me?" Papyrus asked slowly as he gazed at the reflection in the glass, "Wowie… I… I have a _hood_!"

Eagerly, he reached behind his head and pulled up some of the loose fabric from his now incredibly long scarf to throw over his head. It was pretty typical of Papyrus to ignore the fact that his own body had been physically mutated in favour of being impressed with something so insignificant. Still, you had to admit the extra loop of cloth felt comfortable covering your bare head. The weight of it almost gave you the illusion you were occupying a body that consisted of more than just bare bones.

"I can't believe it! I look so cool! Don't you two think?" the newly hooded skeleton smiled brightly as he struck a 'cool pose'.

"... oh yeah... It's very cool..." Napstablook agreed quietly; and though their agreement seemed genuine, you felt as though their mind had wandered off somewhere else.

"It's strange how my clothes changed too," Papyrus hummed, bringing a gloved hand up to his face, "Even though it makes me look even more like the hero I am, the human was right! I cannot cook properly with these gloves! A true chef only cooks his pasta with the finest of oven mitts!"

"How?"

Papyrus blinked at your question, "Huh? Oh, well, most chefs would boil their spaghetti in a pot, but where is the creative flair in that!? Sometimes you have to do something really different to bring out the natural flavour of-!"

"No. How are you different. Why."

The curtness of your questions made them almost seem like demands. Not that you cared; you were tired. After enduring everything Papyrus had been unintentionally throwing at you for so long, who could blame you for being a little short with your words? Papyrus seemed willing to let it slip as he only hesitated for a second before answering.

"Well! Perhaps you did not know this, but monsters change depending on how much magic they have! Imagine me: first, I was a little baby bones; then, as I became older, my magic grew! And that is how I became the Magnificent Papyrus!"

"... He means that a monster's magic is a part of our bodies... So most monsters will grow if they absorb more magic," the Napstablook shyly clarified for you, "... Getting a lot of magic at once can change a monster's entire body….. um, there are lots monster types who grow differently… But I don't know how... Sorry… I'm just a ghost monster so my body doesn't hold magic well... That's why we have to possess things to store more magic... But we still don't grow much because then our new bodies are physical… oh… I'm sorry... That probably didn't help much….."

"So lots of magic made this happen." You nodded slightly to yourself. It made sense. Kinda. You could imagine it like if you added more air to a balloon. Obviously it would grow bigger; except in Papyrus' case it affected his height, facial features and, for some reason, his clothes. Magic was just mysterious like that and, as a human, you still didn't entirely understand it. But there was still one question you could ask.

"Where'd the extra magic come from?"

There was a heavy build up of nerves on Papyrus' side as soon as you asked the question, but despite being in the same head and being able to feel each other's emotions, he still tried to hide it from you.

"W-well, um, I'm... not sure!" he lied, scratching at his chin and feigning ignorance, "I guess it will always be a mystery!"

"... huh? I thought it was because you accidentally absorbed the human's Soul…."

Just as Papyrus was about to freak out, you cut him short with a simple "Oh. Ok."

"O-okay?" the shocked skeleton repeated, stunned. "Y-you're not mad?"

Your only response was a noncommittal sound. For some reason, you just didn't care about anything more than the simple answers. Everything seemed pretty straight forward from your point of view: you drowned, you died, Papyrus picked up your Soul, you ended up in his head. Simple.

"... u-um... I don't think it was your fault anyway..." the quiet dummy defended, "... you tried to stop the human from falling on the spikes with your magic... It was, uh, bad luck that they twitched like that and fell into the water next to them instead..."

As the sad ghost spoke, another piece of the puzzle fell into place for you. There _had_ been a body of water right next to the spikes at that particular puzzle, though you didn't know how deep it was. Apparently it was at least deep enough to drown in. You couldn't really explain the twitching thing they'd mentioned though...

"R-right. I know that." Papyrus nodded, guilt still twisting up somewhere behind the wall of reassuring feelings he'd erected between you; most of which were quickly transforming into apologetic feelings, "I just didn't know that you were in the water, human! I thought I left you on dry land, but when I was done apologising to the rock you were suddenly gone! When our ghost friend told me you had fallen in I tried to pull you out with magic again, but only your Soul came out and your body stayed sunk! Th-that was when I accidentally… kind of… I mean, I was already using my blue magic so your Soul, um…"

"You took it." You finished for him.

"No! I didn't _take_ it! I would never do that!" he shook his head vigorously and you could feel the sweat beading on your forehead from his anxiety. You decided that you didn't like the feel of it and wiped it away, causing him to jump slightly at the movement of his own arm.

"It- your Soul- reacted to my blue magic and I kind of… absorbed it?" he nervously explained, "I didn't mean to do it and _I'm very, very sorry_!"

You made a vague sound to show that you'd heard his apology.

"... oh, human… I guess... You're kind of like me?" Napstablook looked at you longingly, "... B-because you're stuck in a body too... And, um... Oh... I'm sorry, I don't know where I was going with that thought... I'll be quiet..."

"You're right. I guess I'm a human ghost now."

You hummed lazily in interest. Most ghost stories you knew involved either hauntings or possessions; and weren't you technically possessing Papyrus? Heck, your own dead body was hanging under your arm at that very moment. Stories about monsters were real, so why not stories about ghosts and curses too? Souls were already an established fact. You were most definitely a ghost of some sort.

"You should be careful with human Souls though," you added after remembering some of the spookier stories you'd heard, "If you disturb them, they'll kill you."

"What!? K-kill?"

Both monsters became instantly nervous. Despite the fact you'd spoken with complete indifference, neither of them had known that particular tidbit and it seemed to really unnerve them. Napstablook seemed particularly shaken as they hovered uncertainly at a slightly further distance from you.

"... oh, y-you wouldn't do that, though... R-right? … You w-won't... K-kill us... will you?"

You paused to think for a moment before you answered.

"I won't hurt you. From most of the stories, human ghosts mostly kill for revenge. Maybe with a curse or through possession. But I'm not mad. It was an accident."

To you, that answer was perfectly acceptable. You didn't have any motivation to kill either of the two monsters. There was no reason for you to hurt anyone. What would you even gain from it anyway? Besides, you still couldn't feel anything, let alone anger or a want for revenge. At least _you_ knew that you weren't a threat.

But Napstablook and Papyrus still seemed a little unnerved with your answer, even though the later could easily sense the fact that you held no ill will (or any type of will at all, for that matter).

"O-oh, well that's good to know that you do not want us dead!" Papyrus smiled awkwardly as he forced himself to be cheery after the ominous atmosphere you had created, "Well, I guess that wraps up the detour? Let's, uh… Oh! We should keep going to Waterfall! Then, when we get your human body working, I can return your Soul! It'll be like this never happened!"

You didn't bother to respond as your small group began to move. Honestly, you didn't even believe that anyone could restore your corpse unless they had some really serious magic you hadn't learned about yet. You might not have known what the limit was for resuscitating a body, but it was a fair guess that you had already passed it somewhere on the way into town. Though it had only been earlier that day, Toriel had revealed that she was a Boss monster. If she was the strongest type of monster and yet her healing magic only barely sealed your leg, was there really anyone strong enough to revive you?

But, eh. Who cared?

 _Not you._


	18. Echoes Past

Oh my god you guys, I can't believe I had writer's block for an entire month! The last time I updated this thing was in August and it's already the first day of freakin' skeleton season! I'm so sorry! Life just flies by sometimes and that's not even mentioning how I had to split this Chapter because it just wasn't working...

The reason I didn't update this story with an Author's Note was because I knew if I did I would procrastinate on this damn thing for even longer. Seriously, guilt was my only motivation here.

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...

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* * *

Waterfall was a serene place filled with beautiful glowing stones and the constant rush of clear water. Magical flowers planted at odd intervals spoke quietly in between the echoes of distant drips of water. Each bud had captured secrets and wishes so that others could listen in to the whispers of those who had passed through before them. No one could deny that, despite the darkness and lack of any signs of life besides the plants, it was very beautiful. In fact, anyone could go so far as to say that it was the very picture of a magical land.

It was also, in your opinion, incredibly boring.

There was nothing to do in the dark and dripping caves other than watch Papyrus cross many, many, _many_ little rivers. Sometimes they even had bridges over them! How convenient. Wouldn't it be nice if they did that for _all_ of the rivers? But, of course, you weren't going to interrupt with such inane thoughts; after all, Papyrus was on a (most likely doomed) mission to find some wise old monster and revive your body. Interrupting him because you were feeling restless would be counterproductive. Besides, he had suddenly become... quite determined. So much so that you weren't sure if you could stop him even if you wanted to.

Ever since the weird incident with your reflection back at the snowy town, your skeletal friend had cut his chattiness down to a minimum. Even the little ghost at your shoulder was becoming nervous now that Papyrus was too focused to fill the air with white noise for the three of you. He wasn't even stopping to examine the puzzles littered in between the rocks and rivers! It was very weird to see and you kind of wondered what had brought on his new behaviour.

From what you could gather, his sudden bout of uninterruptible concentration had occurred around about the same time as when you had started to feel restless. You didn't know why your mood had so suddenly shifted, but you had to wonder if it was because of your interaction with Papyrus' emotions. You'd been sitting stagnant in his mind for so long that you had long since passed the point of apathy and switched into something completely new. There wasn't really a word to describe what you were feeling, if it was even an emotion at all. The best way you could explain it was with an analogy: it was like a sudden urge to be productive after lying in bed all day.

Unfortunately, like every poor soul who experienced a sudden wave of inspiration, you didn't really know what to _do_ with it. Being trapped in Papyrus' body was incredibly inconvenient. As long as he was on _his_ quest, you couldn't break away to search for your own. The only other option you had was to take over his body completely, but what was the point in that?

Well, there wasn't a point _yet_ at least. If, by some miracle, your body was revived, you would be able to wander off on your own and find a way to vent all of your pent up energy. Wouldn't that be nice?

But if that didn't work out...

Well, you hadn't quite planned that out yet, but maybe you could ask nicely to take his body for a spin? Getting permission would certainly sooth the weird feeling that popped up whenever you thought about possessing him by force.

Regardless, it was because of that unbidden urge to restrain yourself from simply taking what you wanted that you were left to stew in your frustration, desperately clawing for ideas to distract your whirring mind. You almost wished that Papyrus would start talking again, if only so you could learn something from his ramblings. But from what you could feel from him that was strangely unlikely. Sure, there was still a wall of reassurance pressing down on you from his side; but as you walked, more and more negative feelings began to swim around in his mind.

Doubt, worry, fear, regret; those were just a few of the emotions that you could sense and you were only getting better at it. If you focused, you could feel how he was valiantly holding off his negativity with an incredible amount of hope. Stuff like that was now so easy to decipher that you quickly became bored with it. What you needed was to do something engaging while still allowing Papyrus to get to wherever he was going.

Turning slightly to the dummy floating over your shoulder, an idea began to form in your mind.

It wouldn't be easy, trying to get the sad ghost to talk for any amount of time, but if you managed it you could learn some things about the Underground while not slowing down the skeleton's mission. They'd already proven that they knew some interesting things back at Papyrus' old house. Maybe there was more to them than you'd thought…?

 _Whatever_. You just couldn't take being so inactive anymore! Surely they would be able to distract you for at least for a little while...

With the idea in your head and no feelings of hesitation to remind you that the poor thing obviously had social anxiety, you immediately got the little ghost's attention with a simple "Hey."

The reaction you got was much more extreme than what you'd imagined. First the ghost turned to you in shock, then they backed up a significant amount as though you were some kind of terrifying monster (well, uh, while the monster part was true, you would never use the word ' _terrifying_ ' to describe Papyrus- even with his new makeover). They recovered decently well, but still hung around at a distance as they apologised. With Papyrus' new behaviour and your recent radio silence they had probably had some kind of ghost heart attack when you started talking out of nowhere.

"... o-oh... You're... the human now? ... oh no... Wh-were you talking t-to me? ... I'm sorry... I d-didn't know..."

"That's fine," you blinked at them, not taking your gaze away from their nervous form. Hmm, it seemed that getting the little thing to open up was going to be even more of a challenge than you'd first anticipated. Judging by their unwarranted reaction to your simple call for their attention, they were going to be quite difficult to work with. Even Papyrus had barely flinched as you took control of his face and voice to hold your little conversation. You guessed it was because of the torn feelings he was experiencing over it; part of him was happy that you were engaging with the world again and part of him felt incredibly nervous for some reason.

Hmm. Despite all your recent practice at reading his emotions, you couldn't place your finger on why he might not want you talking with anyone. Had you said something wrong at some point? You didn't really know.

But putting that aside for the moment, you had a little ghost to deal with!

"So, Napstablook- am I saying that right?" The dummy nodded it's head slightly, causing a bit of lint to tumble off the edge of its nose, "Okay. I just wanted to know how you got to know so many things about monsters. You explained a lot of cool things back there! I don't think I would have understood anything without your help."

Good. A little bit of buttering up never hurt anyone. Maybe it would help you to coax the little spirit out of their introverted cocoon.

"... oh... N-no… I'm not… that smart... oh…"

"No, really! I didn't know about any of that stuff! Where did you learn it? Some kind of monster school?"

"... I-I… I, uh... A bit... The w-waterfalls have… old plaques on them... A-about monsters and Souls... I live here so..."

"Wow! That's so interesting!" you pulled what you hoped looked like a kind smile, even though Napstablook's wide-eyed and teary expression told you it probably didn't look that kind at all. Maybe it was the hood making your features look darker- That or the vampire teeth. It wasn't exactly your fault that you didn't understand how to properly manipulate the features of a freaking _skeleton monster_.

"So? Tell me more."

"... m-more? More of what?"

"Oh, I dunno," you hummed, "things about the Underground, stuff you've read on those plaques- anything!"

"... I... I'm sorry… I'm n-not very good at talking…"

You felt yourself twitch a little bit. All you were asking was for the shy ghost to chat with you a bit, what was so hard about that? Part of you understood what it was like to feel socially anxious. You'd had trouble with public speaking and introductions once or twice yourself, yet you felt no empathy for the dummy at all. What you wanted, no, _needed_ , was some gratification for your efforts. You'd already started your task to coax the ghost into talking and had already completed part one by getting him to respond; there was no way you were going to give up on that progress! You were going to dig your heels in and make the little thing distract you _like you wanted_!

"Oh, come on!" you forced yourself to laugh casually, "I think you're great at talking! You could tell me a little more~"

"... I-I, um... I can't… I d-don't like being the c-center of attention….."

Ignoring the tears building up at the edges of their button eyes, you continued to press the ghost a bit more, ( _if they're not crying yet then it's not_ that _bad_ ), "What if I looked away then? You wouldn't have to worry about being the center of attention if I did that. Then you could talk as much as you like."

"... B-but I don't want to talk…"

"You talked before in that Snowdin place. What's different now?"

"... I-I... I j-just..."

Just as you were about to accuse the shaking dummy of being both friendlier with Papyrus than they were with you, said skeleton suddenly interrupted you.

"O-oh my goodness! Would you look at _that_! We're at Undyne's house already!" he yelled loudly, causing the ghost to flinch even further away from you and for you to huff slightly at your little conversation being interrupted.

After successfully butting into your chat, Papyrus immediately bolted for a strange, fish-shaped house. You hadn't really noticed it in your peripheral vision, but as you'd already learned at the window, both of you could focus on different things through the same eyes.

Before he ducked around the corner of the cavern arch that formed between the previous area and the area that contained the strangely designed building, he turned back the the ghost that was barely even following you.

"Um! H-hey, ghost-friend! You don't have to come over here if you don't want to! I'm just going to- to look at Undyne's house for a bit! I, uh, like to look at empty houses sometimes! It is a hobby that I definitely have!"

Napstablook merely nodded their understanding, probably not interested in looking at some person's weird home. In fact, since they apparently lived in the area, you guessed that they must have seen the house a ton before anyway. But that didn't mean _you_ couldn't take a look. It was a welcome break from marching along identical paths with nothing but the faint rush of cave water to focus on.

Besides, the house _was_ pretty interesting- way more so than Papyrus'. It was curved like an igloo and layered with blue tiles all the way around, giving it a scale-like texture. Two circular windows, each with a singular cross grid of wood, formed the 'eyes' of the house. Even the front door was made of metal that seemingly opened at the midsection in a jagged line, giving it the appearance of teeth. Additional decorations such as fins and a tail only made it look all the more ridiculous. Didn't Papyrus say that the person who lived there was named Undyne? The same Undyne who was in the Royal Guard? The training equipment scattered around the front of the house made you think so.

Just as you were about to step forward and investigate further, Papyrus pressed his body against the stone wall of the cave and refused to move. You pushed lightly against his control, but found that while he was concentrating on keeping you both still you couldn't move as freely as you had before.

"Uh, didn't you want to look at that house?" you asked, confused as to why the skeleton was refusing to move. It took you a moment to realise that he'd actually lied. He didn't really want to look at the house at all. You were doing so well at reading him before, and on top of that he hadn't even been that outwardly convincing either. How did you miss such an obvious lie? Was it because you were distracted?

"Human… we are actually not going to look at the house," Papyrus admitted guiltily, just as you'd suspected, "Instead, I would like to address some concerns that I have."

You tilted your shared head at his words. Concerns, huh? You could already sense that he had plenty of concerns, though you didn't have the ability to pick up on exactly what those concerns entailed. It would actually be pretty interesting to find out what was twisting the guy up so much. Surely it would be easier to talk with him rather than the anxious ghost.

"Okay, shoot," you said as you settled back onto the wall even more.

"Well, um, my concerns… actually involve you."

You raised your eyebrows a bit at that. From his incredibly naive reaction to your death to the way he'd merrily wasted so much time getting your corpse to the monster who may or may not have been able to fix you, you hadn't thought that Papyrus was even the least bit concerned about you. Heck, you didn't even know if he understood anything about you enough to ever feel concerned at all. He thought that drowning and getting stabbed in the leg were basically the same thing. _The same thing_! How and why was he developing concerns about you _now_?

"I… I do not think that you were treating our Nap-ghost-friend very nicely! In fact, I w-would say… that you were being borderline mean!"

Oh. Was that all? You would have laughed at the absurdity of his words if you could somehow feel like laughing. In a way you felt a bit let down, as if his accusation was an anticlimax to your expectations. He was only worried about the ghost and their delicate little feelings- and here you were wondering if he might be worrying over yours for once. How stupid of you.

"I wasn't being mean, I was trying to talk with them. I was bored and wanted a distraction," you clarified.

"But they did not want to talk! You almost made them cry!"

"Yeah, _almost_. I would have stopped if they _actually_ cried."

"That is not a good thing!" Papyrus exclaimed loudly, slapping his gloved hands on top of your hooded head, "It is not nice to make other people cry or feel bad! But I don't think you would do this on purpose either! Something has gone wrong with you, human! You've been acting... not like you! You are not being the nice person that I know you are!"

As you listened to the skeleton whine pathetically about how you were apparently ' _becoming very scary_ ', you considered telling him about everything he was doing that weren't very ' _nice_ '; from squashing you with his overpowering emotional capacity, to swinging your corpse around carelessly like an old rag, to wasting your time with pointless detours and rants about puzzles that had obviously been abandoned. A small voice in one of the darker corners of your mind suggested that you call him a murderer for getting you killed. Ooh, that would certainly get a good reaction!

However, a countering force rose up from somewhere within you to point out how that was somehow going too far. In the end you settled on shrugging nonchalantly, much to Papyrus' distress.

"Hmm... Hmm...!" gloved hands rubbed frantically over your head and you could clearly feel the frustration from the skeleton as he tried to figure you out. "I've got it! I don't really know a lot about human Souls, but I think that being separated from your body for so long has made you feel homesick! Homesick for your body! Body-sick! I know that _I_ would not feel very happy if I didn't have my own body! (Or, um, actually, I think that my Soul and body wouldn't be able to exist separately at all…) But back to you! Is that why you have been so quiet, human? And, uh… k-kind of creepy? Are you acting out because you are uncomfortable outside of your body?"

"Uh, sure?"

"I knew it!" he shouted victoriously, "Your behaviour is completely related to the fact that your Soul is misplaced! That means that when you are revived you will be perfectly normal again! What a relief!"

"Oh, so _that's_ why we're wasting time in front of this stupid-looking house! Because we're in a rush to get me fixed!" you snarked despite a wave of Papyrus' renewed confidence and enthusiasm cascading over you once again. Honestly, if you weren't so used to the pressure by now, you would have been left spinning back in your own mind again. Maybe you were gaining some kind of exposure resistance?

"Yes! Wait, no?" Papyrus blinked and tilted his head in confusion, "We stopped for a moment to talk! Which I guess technically isn't helping us get to where we're going... Oh, but is it really wasting time if it's important in the long run? … Wait, I'm- I'm not sure I understand what you just said?!"

You huffed. It should have been obvious to you that the guy was completely incapable of understanding sarcasm. You didn't even need to reach out and read him to figure out that one. Living with him for a month made it obvious that he was a very literal guy with his heart on his sleeve and his head in some make-believe happyland.

And yet, knowing that, it was somehow frustrating you.

"I _said_ , so _that's_ why we're standing in front of this _stupid-looking house_ -"

"It's NOT stupid looking!"

Both you and Papyrus jumped as a new voice interrupted you. From the pitch and volume you could instantly tell it wasn't Napstablook. Who had-?

Before you could wonder any more, a small yellow monster appeared in front of you and began to yell up at your face.

"This is Undyne's house! She was the coolest, awesomest, and _greatest_ hero ever! Nothing about her or any of her stuff is stupid!"

There was a moment of pause as what seemed to be some kind of monster child heaved angry breaths at you. Still leaning up against the wall in shock, you stared down at the little thing barely up to the top of your boot. Their chest was puffed out as though they intended to fight you without arms. Their yellow and brown striped shirt (well, it was more of a body sleeve when you thought about it) with matching chestnut pants made them look like an angry bumblebee. They were also pretty filthy, with smudges of dirt all over their clothes and round little face. Small tears were beading up into the corners of their eyes and their cheeks were flushed in anger.

Before you could think of anything to say to the new monster, Papyrus was crouching down enthusiastically to speak at eye-level with the kid.

"Yes! You are absolutely right! Undyne is super-duper cool!" he yelled, instantly confusing the little lizard-like thing.

"B-but… If you think Undyne's cool, then who said-?" the kid mumbled, confused. They looked around, as if trying to find something. "Hey, where's the other person?"

"O-other person?" Papyrus asked nervously, "I don't know what you mean! There's definitely only me here! Oh, and you! You're here now too! We're both here! Just us and no one else! Nyeh heh... heh…?"

Wow. Real smooth there, friend.

The kid didn't look like they were buying it either as they puffed themselves up again, turning away from you to find the supposed 'third person' in the room. It was obvious that they'd only heard enough to know there was a conversation going on, but not enough to know what that conversation was really about or that both participants were speaking from the same mouth. _Ha… kids are so stupid_.

You watched as they uselessly scanned the area. Frustrated and unable to find anything, they took a deep and yelled "Whoever said those mean things about Undyne, you're- you're a giant JERK! And a massive _weenie_ for running away, too!"

Papyrus instantly covered his mouth at the words, as though the kid had actually said something rude. You, however, were almost amused with their antics. Where had this kid come from? What were they doing here? Everywhere else in Waterfall seemed completely abandoned. How interesting.

"Anyway, why are you here?" the kid asked as they turned back to you, "My Mom says that no one's allowed in Waterfall anymore."

"W-well, you see, I'm off to Gherkin's!" Papyrus proclaimed.

"... You mean Gerson's?"

"Yes! That is what I said! But never mind that!" You stood back to your full height, easily towering over the tiny monster, "What are you doing here if your mother says that it is not allowed?! That is very irresponsible of you to ignore your parent's instructions like that!"

"H-huh?" the kid's eyes widened, suddenly looking like they were caught with their hand (or, maybe their foot in this case) in a cookie jar, "I-it's not just my Mom, it's everyone! Everyone says that no one's allowed in Waterfall! No one lives here anymore! S-so _you're_ the one who shouldn't be here!"

"WHAT!?" Papyrus squawked, and you could feel that he was honestly quite shocked at the sudden turn around, "W-well I was not told that! In fact, of the one place where I was told not to be today, this was certainly not it! And that doesn't change the fact that you're here too! You should go home!"

"But-! That's not- J-just because you're an adult-!"

"No buts! A-and, um…" Papyrus trailed off uncomfortably as the monster child began to shake and sniffle uncontrollably. It was a strangely extreme reaction to the skeleton's mediocre scolding, but you couldn't help but smirk inwardly at the irony of the situation.

 _Not making people cry is easier said than done, huh Pap?_ You mused to yourself as he frantically tried to calm the kid.

"Oh! Oh no! I'm sorry please don't cry-!"

"I-" _Sniff. Hiccup._ "I- Ijustwantedtopracticebeingahero!"

Echoes of the kid's unexpected scream echoed around on the cave walls as they heaved massive breaths. The child had their head turned down to stare at their feet, but you could see they were still shaking. They seemed really upset about something. Weird.

"Oh." said Papyrus simply as he squatted down again, "That… is a very good goal!"

"R-really?" the kid sniffled, "My Mom doesn't want me to become a hero. No one does. Not after… after…"

They didn't get very far into explaining themselves before breaking into tears again. Jeez, if the kid really wanted to be a hero that badly then they sure had a hell of a ways to go.

"Don't worry, monster child! I believe in you!"

"Wh- Really?" the little yellow monster stared up at you with watery eyes, "you're not going to tell me off? Or tell me to give up?"

"Of course not! Being a hero is very cool! Like Undyne! Or me!"

Sniffling hard again, the kid seemed to calm down.

"Like Undyne… yeah. Yeah! Like Undyne! I wanna be like Undyne! I'm not gonna give up!"

You watched, baffled as the kid did a complete 180 and immediately started puffing themselves up again. They were a bit of a sight with all the tears still covering their face and no arms to wipe them away, but Papyrus didn't seem to care as he encouraged the kid even more.

"That's right! Don't give up!"

"Okay! I won't! I'm gonna keep using this training gear in secret until I'm tough enough I to take on the entire surface! Everyone's gonna be so surprised!"

"Huh?! Well...you should still ask for permission when-"

"I'm Monster Kid by the way!" the kid beamed, totally ignoring Papyrus' halfhearted lecture, "You should remember it for when I become a famous hero! Then you can say that you met the awesome hero MK before anyone else!"

"Wowie! I'm the first one to meet a new hero?! Everyone else is going to be so jealous, what will I do?!"

"Well first-! Uh, actually, what _are_ you doing?" the Monster Kid suddenly tilted his head, "Didn't you have to be going somewhere?"

"... OH MY GOODNESS GRACIOUS I COMPLETELY FORGOT!"

You could have slapped yourself as you felt Papyrus suddenly realise that he'd gotten sidetracked _again_. Jeez, you were only _dead_ and _possessing him_ , how could he possibly forget about that? Then again, watching him interact with the new monster had been a good distraction for you too. Between a choice of walking through more identical caves and seeing some random child switch rapidly between tears and boisterous pride, you knew which one was more entertaining.

"I'm so sorry Kid Monster-! Er- Monster Child! I mean- _Monster Kid_! I have to go see Herson!"

"Gerson."

"Yes, that's it! You are so smart!"

Immediately, Papyrus started to dart off, most likely not knowing where he was supposed to be heading at all.

Faced with the realisation that you could soon be reliving your monotonous journey through the skeleton's eyes again, you focused all of your willpower into stopping your legs from moving.

It was almost satisfying as you gave the skeletal monster a taste of his own medicine, locking up his body so that he couldn't move. What was less satisfying was the way he lost balance and slammed face-first into the mossy cave floor. Sharing a body meant sharing senses, and sensing blue cave fluff getting stuck between your teeth was not something you'd considered before acting.

"Woah! Hey are you oka- _Oof_!"

You turned slightly to see the monster kid had similarly fallen down beside you. Now was your chance! All you had to do was try and imitate Papyrus' voice a little better and…

"Hey, why don't you come too? I could really use a hero's help right now!"

 _More like I could use some entertainment right now…_

"Wha- Really! Awesome!"

"U-um-! Wait! I mean…" Papyrus stuttered as he pulled himself upright. He hadn't expected you to invite them along, you could sense that, but you also knew that he would never kill the enthusiastic look on the kid's newly dirtied face. Heck, he should be happy that you were inviting someone else along for the adventure! You were almost certain that if he'd thought to ask he'd gleefully chat with the little lizard all day. So why was he hesitating when you asked the question for him?

"So what are you going to see Gerson for? He's, like, one of the only people that's really allowed through here anymore. Is it that red thing? Oh, are you delivering it?"

Glancing down you realised that the kid was referring to the body wrapped up under your arm. Wow, somehow you'd almost completely forgotten about that…

"Yes! It's, um, a very important delivery! Top secret!"

"That's so cool~!" the kid giggled in awe as they stared at the corpse hidden safely in your giant scarf.

"Ahem! Well! Let's not waste any more time!" Papyrus declared loudly to hide his discomfort as MK bounded around beside the 'package', "We have to go and find out super important guide so that we- _I_ can finish my quest to meet Gerspin!"

"Dude, seriously. It's _Gerson_!"

* * *

...

...

...

Have a nice October guys.


	19. Promises Broken

Inviting MK along for the journey was one of the better decisions you'd made, you decided. Even Papyrus seemed to agree with you, if not through words then through his near constant chatter with the small monster. It seemed as though whatever oddness he'd been wrapped up in before was indirectly solved once he was given the child as a distraction.

Even Napstablook re-joined your party once you found them hidden away beside a pair of curved, cylindrical houses just around the corner from Undyne's place. For some reason, despite the fact that their original motivation to join you was to return home, they seemed reluctant to actually enter it. You could see that they'd been crying at some point, though you couldn't guess as to why… They hadn't been sad enough to cry when Papyrus had decided step away with you, so it couldn't have been your fault. Not that the ghost really mattered much to you anymore.

For once you found yourself feeling pacified; not distressed, not apathetic, but not quite content either- you simply felt that you didn't need to do anything else other than sit back and watch the three go on their way. As far as you could tell, the simple action of starting up a conversation again had been enough to fulfill you. You'd achieved something- minuscule as it was- and that somehow made your existence valid again. You were justified; more than just a presence in some monster's head, but a person who still had the power to Act and effect the world. The weird itch you'd had before had finally disappeared and you were once again content with sitting passively in Papyrus' skull. Hopefully such strange feelings wouldn't surface again any time soon and make you even more restless than before.

"So, um," Monster Kid scuffed his feet on the wet earth as you walked, "when we get to Gerson can you just say that I came here with you? Y'know, to help out. I kinda wanna keep my hero training at Undyne's place secret…"

"Of course, my small friend! If I had lips they would be sealed shut! Which I guess would defeat the point of having lips… But I will swear myself to secrecy nonetheless!"

Scuffing their feet and nodding, MK then turned on Napstablook, "You too, alright dummy?"

"... h-huh? oh... yes, of course... I live right next door so... I'll make sure you stay safe..."

"You lived next to Undyne?! That's so cool!"

"... oh? It is...? ... I don't really know... But it is nice to be home with my music... even if... oh..."

"Hey, I got an idea! You can help me train! The last dummy who worked there left to go to the city, I think."

As Nabstablook stuttered out an apologetic rejection to being the kid's punching bag, Papyrus shook his head and huffed. "Jeez! It seems like everyone is going to the Capital these days! Is it really that good of a vacation spot?"

"Hmm, well, I don't know about vacations… but my Mom wants to move there like everyone else." Suddenly angry, MK kicked his legs harder as he walked, "It's not fair! Everyone's always talking about how crowded the City is and now suddenly everyone wants to move there! How am I supposed to get stronger in a place like that? Who cares if it's ' _safer'_? I'd rather stay here."

"I understand!" Papyrus nodded, "I also moved house a while ago. But even if I had to leave some stuff behind it wasn't so bad! I met cool new people and got to design new puzzles!"

"Yeah? You didn't move to the Capital too, did you?"

"Actually, no! I moved to-"

"... oh, um… I'm sorry for interrupting….." Napstablook interjected shyly, "b-but I think we just… walked past... Gerson's shop… sorry…"

Looking up and away from the child at your side, both you and Papyrus scanned the area. As the ghost had said, there was a simple doorway like arch in the wall further behind you. You could just make out a few faintly glowing crystals from around the corner and a familiar winged symbol carved onto the far wall. It was a bit too dim to make out any more than that, but Napstablook seemed certain that it was where Gerson should be.

"... This is where he usually sets up shop... um, sorry... I'm really tired... I have to go home after this... sorry... I know I should stick around more but... I'm really not feeling up to it right now..."

"That's okay! You've been a huge help!" Papyrus smiled as he backtracked to the door, "A-actually, why don't you two stay out here? I can easily handle this part by myself! I'm sure it will be no problem for someone as smart as myself!"

"... oh, okay... I won't get in your way….."

"Aw, that's kinda lame," MK huffed, "But I guess I didn't want anyone to see me here anyway…"

"Dont worry, this won't take long!" Papyrus called to the monsters behind him as you entered into the slightly smaller (and dimmer) cave, "We're going home after this too! So don't-"

"What? Wazzat?! Who's there? Who's making noise?"

A new voice came from within the offshoot cave you'd just entered, making Papyrus jump. It was still too dark to see anything specific, so you couldn't locate where the voice had come from. Squinting in the darkness you spied something lumpy making its way over to you. A match was struck and a lantern lit before warm light flooded the immediate area and you found yourself face-to-face with an elderly turtle monster. (Well, kneecap-to-face, but apart from the dummy who had the advantage of levitation that seemed to be the new norm for you.)

"Ah! A young 'un! I shoulda known…" the old turtle grumbled as he shook out his lit match, moving to pick up a discarded magnifying glass with his aged and shaking hands. The elderly monster had a thin, pointy beard under his chin and his teeth had yellowed from age long ago. He wore typical archaeologist attire and seemed to be squinting at you with only one of his eyes. Scaly spots (whether they were liver spots like a human would have or simply natural patterns on his body) dotted his leathery and wrinkled skin. There was absolutely no doubt in your mind that the guy was _old_.

"Just what do you think you're doing, yelling and making a ruckus? Don't you know some of the echo flowers hold other monster's last wishes? Show some respect!"

"O-oh! Sorr- I mean-! _Oh_ … _Sorry!_ " Papyrus stage whispered, barely any quieter at all. It was easy to tell that he was extremely excited to finally meet the old geezer, pre-victory joy and jittery anticipation bumping clumsily into your apathetic mind as it rushed into his voice.

" _You're Gerson, right_?" you- whoops, there you go again- _Papyrus_ continued to whisper loudly.

The old monster simply nodded at you and raised an eyebrow, " That I am, boy. Now, why did you come here?"

"Oh wonderful! It took so long to get to you I was beginning to worry-!"

" _Shh_ , lad!"

"Oh! Yes, right! … _Sorry!_ _Ahem!_ " You inwardly rolled your eyes as Papyrus cleared his throat for dramatic effect (You know, the one you _didn't have_?) as he finally began.

" _I have something very important to show you! I've been told that only you can help me with this delicate situation!_ "

"Delicate what now?"

Very carefully, Papyrus lay down your tightly wrapped body onto a flattened rock. There were a few bottles and cans atop the rock, but they were easily cleared away by large gloved hands. The surface seemed to be a crude display table of sorts and was quite low, meaning you had to kneel just to remain at a reasonable height to your corpse.

"Hmm? Well, well, well, what've we got here?" Gerson hummed as he picked at the scarf, not really unwrapping the body completely, but instead slightly loosening a section of cloth. It seemed as though his curiosity had been piqued by the lump of fabric and what was hidden beneath it.

" _That is a secret!_ " Papyrus responded excitedly, " _But I was told that you were one of the oldest monsters in the Underground, and could help me sort this out!_ "

"Wahaha…" the old man laughed, more wheezing and bitter than joyous, "I suppose I really _am_ one of the oldest monsters left. You came to seek me out specifically? I wonder if that'll be happening more these days… Just because I'm old doesn't mean I have all the answers, boy! I'm just an old man with a couple of trinkets to sell. Who told you I would solve all your problems?"

" _It was a rock, actually!_ " Papyrus answered, completely naive to the fact that the question had been rhetorical, " _I'm certain that you'll know what to do once I show you what is in my cape!_ "

Quickly, to Gerson's mixed reaction of annoyance and amusement, Papyrus unwrapped your corpse and lay it bare on the table.

Finally presented with the chance to look at your corpse again, you duly realised that it wasn't as gross as you'd imagined it would be. Sure, the body was slightly stiff and pale, but it had also dried nicely after being wrapped up in the red cloth for so long. The skin that you'd expected to be flaky and thin- perhaps just barely hanging off your bones- was actually in pretty decent condition. It looked less like a corpse and more like someone who'd just fallen asleep in the cold for a bit. The mundanity of the reveal left you fairly underwhelmed and emotionally distant towards the whole situation. You'd almost wanted something more dramatic so you could watch both monster's reactions; perhaps something more akin to a rotting hollywood zombie. Unfortunately you hadn't been dead for long enough to reach that stage.

Oh well. Gerson still seemed shocked enough.

"Why, that's-!"

The old turtle was immediately at the corpse's side, using his magnifying glass to peer at the details of your previous body. He scanned your face, opened your eyelids only to watch them remain open and free of control, flipped your wrists to examine your veins, felt around your thumbs and neck to find a sign of life- It seemed that he was completely enraptured by your deceased body, barely believing what he was seeing.

"This is-! Well it's unbelievable!" Gerson gaped, not looking up from his examination, "What- Lad... where did you find this…? This is a human body!"

Completely forgetting his inside voice, Papyrus eagerly launched into an explanation: "Well, first they fell down into the Underground and then they were injured for a very long time- here on the leg, see?- and then I was making puzzles to trick them and I led them out to the puzzles but then something happenedandItrippedandtherewerespikesbuttheytwitchedandthewaterwasrightthere-!"

"WOAH, no _way_!"

The nervous verbal waterfall that had been pouring out of Papyrus' mouth came to a halt as Monster Kid unexpectedly sprinted into the room. They immediately ran up to the table where your body was lying still, their expression filled with nothing but awe as they looked it over.

"Huh!? I thought you were going to stay outside!" Papyrus exclaimed in surprise as the child almost tripped over your long, bony legs in their excitement.

"... oh no…" the sad dummy whimpered as they floated just outside the door, "... It's all my fault... I'm sorry... I told them to wait, but…"

"-But waiting was super boring!" MK finished, "So I stood by the door and listened in! You didn't tell me that you took out a human! That is so _cool_!"

"First of all, it is very rude to eavesdrop on other people's conversations!" Papyrus scolded, "Second of all, though I am undoubtedly very romantic and loved by many, I have never 'taken out' a human!"

Ignoring the lecture, Monster Kid continued to stare at your corpse, darting about and nearly tripping over a thoroughly distracted Gerson.

"Is it sleeping? Did it fall down?"

"Rein it in, kid! If you're going to barge into my shop then you'll at least mind your manners around your elders!" Gerson huffed as he examined your torso with his magnifying glass, "Hmm… Yes. This one is definitely dead."

"Eew! And it's body is still here? That's _weird_!"

Disgusted for some reason, the kid stuck their tongue out and made an exaggerated gagging sound. Gerson, meanwhile, had switched from examining the body to peering at you and Papyrus from across the table.

"Wa ha ha! I see!" he finally declared, "Not only is the human deceased, but their Soul is missing! Boy, did you absorb this human's Soul?"

A twinge of guilt shot through you courtesy of the skeleton. This was obviously a question that he'd been dreading. You'd felt it before in Snowdin, but with the presence of two new monsters who didn't know the full story, it seemed that Papyrus was feeling renewed regret over what had happened to you both.

Twiddling the ends of his fingers anxiously, Papyrus gathered together all of his courage and answered with a tiny "... Yes."

...

"That's AWESOME!"

Your combined confusion was palpable as both you and Papyrus stared down at the monster child who was looking at you with stars in their eyes.

"You killed a human! Oh my _gosh_! No one's gonna believe this! You're like- like- as cool as _Undyne_! Haha! Wow!"

"I, um-? Th-thank… you?" the skeleton answered uncertainly. Normally praise was entirely welcome to Papyrus - encouraged, even - and yet something about the whole situation made him feel uncomfortable about the child's praise.

At the same time something was nagging at you. You didn't know what it was, since it was too faint to identify properly, but it was slowly creeping over you like a sickeningly cold tar. As your confusion mixed with and became unidentifiable from Papyrus', a familiar sensation prodded at the back of your mind. Hadn't you felt the same way once before? What was going on?

"A-actually, no! That's not what I meant!" Papyrus corrected himself, snapping out of whatever disorientated emotion had just passed between you, "I would never hurt anyone! The human… _d-died_ … completely on accident!"

"... um…. He's right….. I was there… the human drowned after they were thrown by his magic…"

"You killed them without even trying!?" Monster Kid yelled in excitement, "DUDE! You must be the strongest monster _ever_!"

"Wh-what!? No, that's not what I-! I-I _am_ very strong, yes, b-but I didn't-!"

Sweat dripping down his brow, you were forced to glance back at your body again as Papyrus' eyes darted around from discomfort. It was just like before- pale, cold and dry. However, looking at it again, you noticed a few other details. Your hair was still sticking carelessly to your face due to the remaining moisture from the water; your eyes, which Gerson had left open, were both unfocused and unevenly lidded; you were still… so still… no breathing, no noises… nothing. It was… more disturbing at second glance. It hadn't really sunk in before. You were staring at your own dead body. It looked freezing. So freezing, in fact, that you were beginning to shake just from looking at it. Why? Why were you suddenly feeling so…?

"Please!" Papyrus clasped his hands together and bowed his head to Gerson, "I came to you for help! I accidentally broke the human and I don't know how to fix them!"

" _Fix_ them?" Gerson repeated with raised eyebrows, "Now why on this earth would you be looking to fix a _human_ , lad?"

"Because they are my friend and being dead is apparently very upsetting!"

"What!? _No!_ " MK stomped his feet, "You can't fix them! Humans are _evil_! They only pretend to be your friend because they're so evil that they wanna use you for their evil plans and then they try to kill you when they're done with you and then they murder everyone else too because they're _big. Evil. JERKS_!"

"That-! That can't be right!" Papyrus squeaked, leaning away nervously at MK's glare, "All the humans I've met were very nice!"

" _All_ the human's you say?" Gerson squinted suspiciously, "And where are these other humans that you've met?"

"Actually, it was only one other human! They were really quiet! Maybe being around someone as overwhelming as myself made them shy? But they still completed a lot of my puzzles and ate my spaghetti! Well, I _think_ they ate some of it, but when I checked on the plate I'd left there wasn't much of a difference. Maybe they were only a _little_ hungry and couldn't-"

"Are you talking about that human who appeared a couple of months ago and _murdered_ everyone?" MK asked, "Because they _definitely_ lied to you!"

"Lied!? Why would they lie!? Lying is bad!"

"Exactly! That's what I'm saying! Humans are _evil_! They lied to you about your spaghetti and they lied to me by making me think we were friends!"

"Well- um? Maybe it was a mistake? I don't think that-"

"I"m NOT wrong! I _saw_ them kill Undyne!"

…

"... Huh?"

The declaration seemed to knock the words right out of Papyrus' mouth. In fact, the sudden accusation had been so unexpected that even you had to pause for thought.

Undyne, the head of the important and powerful sounding Royal Guard, was dead? And killed by a human, too. Back in Toriel' s house you'd pictured her as an almost unbeatable obstacle. You hadn't expected to hear she was already dead. But Papyrus had said she was on vacation in the Capital…

Both stories couldn't be true, so someone had to be a liar. You could feel that Papyrus fully believed his version of events, but what if he'd overestimated whoever that Undyne lady really was? Then again, Sans had been so sure you would be killed that one time you considered leaving. That could kind of work as proof of Papyrus' story- unless the other skeleton been bluffing. Maybe he'd lied to scare you and keep you as a distraction for Toriel and Papyrus. Even with your unspoken truce, he never seemed to care about you as much as those two did, always remaining at a distance or watching from outside your peripheral vision...

Monster Kid was glaring up at you with tears in their eyes. He seemed confident in his words, as though daring the skeleton to deny what he'd said. Even if Papyrus believed that Undyne was 'on vacation', there was always the chance that he was simply too innocent to figure out the truth. Add on top of that your theory of Sans being a massive liar and how he'd basically admitted to you he'd do anything to keep Toriel and his brother happy... Was MK's story the true one after all?

"That… _human_ ," the kid spat out the word like a poison, "tricked me into thinking they were cool. I thought we were both going to go and catch a glimpse of Undyne- watch her beat up some bad guys… But I didn't know they weren't a monster! Ugh, man, I've never felt so _stupid_!"

MK had to look away from you for a moment, struggling not to let their tears fall. Something tugged in your chest at the sight, making your hands clench and your body feel cold. Wh-what was happening to you? Those were all Papyrus' feelings, right? You could feel a nervous dread building up on his side, contained only by an insane amount of denial- but it somehow felt _different_ from what you were experiencing…

"W-when we got to the br _idge_ …" the kid squeaked, trying and failing to stop their voice from wavering, "the b-bridge before the entry to Hotland… I asked if they were a human and th-they just smiled at me! I was so confused. I was going to go home but… I tripped a loose board and they left me to die!"

You felt your jaw move, as though Papyrus was going to say something, but it closed again quietly as the child continued.

"Undyne saved me. She told me to go home… and I would have, but… But I was so _mad_! They _left_ me to fall to my death! I wanted Undyne to kick their butt, and I wanted to see it! But when I got there, they- s- _she_ -!"

Failing to keep his tears from falling any longer, MK stomped his feet angrily and started to wail, " _Waaaaah_! They _killed_ her! I saw her diiiiie! It's not fair! The good guys are supposed to win n-not-! _Nnnh-_ I'm so _stupid_ and _weak_! I should have fought them! Why can't I be _stronger_!?"

As the kid began to cry uncontrollably, you were left at a complete loss. Papyrus was struggling to stay positive and all of his worries were quickly replacing the heavy reassurance he'd been weighing you down with. You could feel his conflictions weighing just as heavily on you as did were on him. He didn't have it in him to call the child a liar, even though you sensed that he was feeling an insane amount of denial after hearing the their story. Papyrus believed that Undyne was still alive. Personally you believed MK's version, and, for some reason, that _hurt_.

You'd known that seeing Gerson probably wouldn't go well for you, you'd _known_. Your logic was just too paranoid and prone to calculating the worst case scenario to not suspect that things would go poorly! So why weren't you prepared to handle what was happening? Why did your chest ache and your eye sockets sting as you watched some kid you'd barely met ten minutes beforehand bawl his eyes out? And why did you feel like you were going to follow his lead at any second?

"I-I…" Papyrus stuttered, at an unusual loss for words, "you're not stupid or weak... "

A loud sniff came from behind you, and you turned slightly to see Napstablook was _also_ crying heavily. With all the drama focused on MK, you hadn't been paying any attention to the ghost at all.

"... oh, I….. I-I understand… the same thing… happened to me….."

You stared wide-eyed at the crying dummy. They'd had a similar experience? Was it with the same human who'd killed Undyne? Or a different one?

"... Back in the Ruins, before I possessed this dummy….. well….. I w-would go there to be alone…." They turned their head away slightly, embarrassment at the admission, but continued, "... one day…. I met a human…. I thought they were nice at first… But then I came home to waterfall and… th-they were suddenly k-killing everyone… I was so scared…..."

"That's right," Gerson nodded solemnly (like Napstablook you'd almost forgotten he was there) "I don't know what could've been going through that kid's head, but they only started murdering folks once they were past Snowdin. If I'd known what they we're doing before they reached my store- Well, I wouldn't have given them such a polite greeting, that's for sure!"

"... E-everyone's so depressed now..." Napstablook sniffled, "... Waterfall is so empty it's scary… and even in other places... they don't have M-... th-they don't have M-Mm... M-Mettaton... to cheer them up..."

"What!? Why?" Papyrus suddenly yelled in distress, "Oh no! Don't tell me they cancelled Mettaton!"

Gerson immediately barked out a loud and bitter laugh, jabbing at you with his magnifying glass, "Lad, if you're trying to joke then you're not very good at it! Now I didn't watch them newfangled robot shows too often, but even _I_ know that Mettaton went down trying to stop the kid, just like Undyne… only on the telly where everyone could witness it."

"No… that… _That can't be right_." Papyrus whispered.

It was only the second time you'd heard him speak so quietly.

Like before it felt wrong. It _was_ wrong. Something inside of you was screaming that Papyrus should _never_ sound like that. You felt sick as you sensed his swirling doubt and sadness building up to levels that you'd never thought the skeleton capable of. The wall of positive feelings he'd placed over you was becoming thinner by the minute. Soon the dam would burst… and then…

"... I'll be honest, you seem like a good lad," Gerson sighed as he pat Papyrus on the shoulder, "but I don't know what you were expecting from me. Humans have been traitorous towards us monsters for a long time now. No one wants to see another one of these fellas walking among us after all that's happened. I never did agree that we should kill them to break the barrier, but perhaps what you've done is for the best."

"B-but I didn't…"

"I understand, it was probably an accident. But maybe ol' Fluffybuns was right in some way. We monsters can't stay underground forever. Even _here_ we're not safe. It may be time to get serious about breaking the barrier. With this human's Soul we could-"

"But that's _not_ what I came here for!" Papyrus shouted as you stood to your terrifying full height, "I just wanted to fix my friend before my brother finds out what I did!"

Below you, both MK and Napstablook shrank back slightly, intimidated now that you were no longer kneeling closer to their level. Gerson, however, stepped forward, his old and wavering eyes full of pity.

"You really don't understand, do you, lad? I'm just an old monster - Old enough to know about humans, yes, but there's no magic that exists to restore a human's life. And even then, how would I separate their Soul from your body? Almost no one has ever seen something like you… and even then it wouldn't have been for long."

"So… you can't fix this?"

"I can't fix it."

Those words, the ones you had known were coming for so long now, still managed to depress you. To know without a doubt that you were truly dead, that you no longer had a form only for yourself, made you question why you were still around. Your previous apathy was completely washed away by the realisation that you would be stuck in some monster's head forever as some weird second consciousness. What were you supposed to do with yourself? Your life was gone. _Game over_. As dead as your corpse in front of you. How could you ever return home and continue your life if you were stuck with Papyrus for as long as you existed? And not even in a separate body for that matter… Why bother to exist if you couldn't even be _yourself_?

But your sudden mental crisis was _nothing_ compared to how Papyrus reacted.

The wall of positivity that he had desperately been holding up for you finally crumbled, unleashing a powerful torrent of emotions that were similar to yours- only much, _much_ stronger. Despair, guilt, fear, hopelessness, regret- even flickers of anger and lingering denial… They swept around you and threatened to pull you under, drowning you for a second time.

 _And there was_ _ **nothing**_ _you could do about it._

You were a failure. You failed to even die right! **You failed to make it in time** _._ You failed to survive. **You failed to revive the body** _._ You failed to escape the Underground. **You failed to notice when everything was wrong** _._ You failed Toriel who'd wanted you so desperately to live. **You failed your brother who you so desperately wanted to cheer up.**

 _ **You**_ _failed_ _ **to**_ _return_ _ho **k** m **e** e **ep your promise**_ _._

Suddenly overwhelmed, you snatched up your body from the table. With a simple " _I have to go_ " (which of you said it you couldn't tell) you bolted out of the room, leaving three very shocked monsters behind you.


	20. Breaks

You didn't know where you were running. Heck, you didn't even know if it was 'you' who had decided to start running in the first place. All that you understood was that you were scared and upset- that Papyrus was scared and upset- and both of you were feeling really _strange_.

And there was only one way you could deal with those feelings.

The temperature change was barely noticeable to you as you barreled out of Waterfall and into somewhere completely different, but similarly abandoned. Traps and puzzles lay forgotten and broken, strange set-like areas left to fall apart along the way to reveal metal scaffolding and dusty wires- Yet you paid no mind to any of it. Sprinting with your long legs had already put a great distance between yourself and Gerson's little cave, and yet you ran further and further, driven by your desperation to find somewhere truly isolated...

Finally, you found it. After an unknown amount of time that had blurred instantly within your panicked mind, you found the ideal spot. It wasn't easy to reach, but with the speed you had built up and your shockingly strong body, you deftly leapt past several cacti and over a lava filled ravine to an abandoned plateau.

Perfect.

You dropped your corpse unceremoniously to the ground with a _whump_ before letting out the single, loudest, most _frustrated scream_ you could possibly manage.

Some of the screaming was definitely coming from you. Frustration, confusion, hopelessness... It overwhelmed you. The worst part of it was that none of those emotions belonged to Papyrus. Nope. It was all you and yours. Feelings that had been unknowingly held back by the naive skeleton since the Ruins were now free to crash down upon your head like a constant cascade of despair. Every repressed fear, anxiety and bitter tear came surging forth at once to make up for the time you'd spent as an emotionless presence in the back of Papyrus' skull.

But you weren't alone in your suffering. Papyrus, too, was experiencing his own bout of panic and sadness, though at a much more frightening degree of strength. You had no idea how he didn't just explode from the stress that such strong emotions gave. Was it a monster thing or a Papyrus thing? You didn't know, but that didn't stop it from hurting as your feelings mixed together to make a volatile concoction of heart-shattering depression. All either of you could do was shout and cry in an attempt to let out some of the pressure burning in your chest, tearing through every inch of your bones and roaring in your head like an earth-shattering storm.

And for a while that was all you did- scream in anger and confusion and despair- until you were so exhausted that you couldn't scream any more. By that time you had already fallen to your hands and knees, sweat was rolling off your body in waves and your every limb was left shaking from the whole experience. You couldn't even lift your head to check on the body you'd dropped. No doubt it was lying at an awkward angle somewhere just outside of your peripheral vision, just as cold and dead and useless as before. Not that you wanted to look at it. You had enough tears rolling down your bony face as it was.

 **Th-there's got to be some way to fix this...**

The thought occurred to you out of the blue. _But how?_ your negative thoughts whispered back, now returned with a vengeance, _How could anyone fix something like this? My body is useless, my death irreversible and my Soul trapped. What options could possibly be left open after all that?_

 **Maybe there's still a way! An option that I haven't looked into yet! Just because Gerson didn't have a solution and Toriel is out of the question doesn't mean that there isn't a way! I just have to look for it!**

You shuddered out a breath as confidence and warm positivity began to creep over you once more, cocooning you and pushing away your sadness as-

 _NO!_

Squeezing your eyes closed you shoved back at the encroaching emotions, desperately clawing at the despair you'd been suffering through. Yes, it was not a good feeling and yes, you were too tired to actually feel the full force of your sadness anymore, but you couldn't give it up. Your mind was filled with the desperate plea of _Not again, not again, please, no, no, no..._ as you struggled to will your negativity to stay.

Up until your breakdown your emotions had been on standby. You'd been feeling absolutely nothing until your shared meltdown with Papyrus; existing as an empty echo of yourself who barely cared about the world and existed without purpose. It was only once they'd been returned and you'd thought to grieve again that you realised just how much you'd missed being able to _feel_. You _needed_ your emotions, even if they were negative. Your emotions completed who you were and gave you balance and context. Sure, you were crying and sobbing like a lost child, but so was Papyrus up until a moment ago! Why was it that he was free to feel such emotions and yet you were forced to remain hollowed out and unable to think straight?

"Nggh... Human? What's- What are you doing? What's wrong?"

You shook as the two of you tried to wrestle for some form of control without overstepping any imaginary boundaries. Papyrus didn't seem to understand why you were trying to suppress his resurgence of cheer and his confusion and concern shifted swiftly around you. There wasn't much you could think of to stop him, bar a full takeover of your shared body, so with all of your desperation you squeezed out a single, shuddering "D- _don't_."

"Don't? D-don't what? I... I don't understand."

You groaned and struggled under the weight of the positive reinforcement being pressed toward you. Perhaps the poor guy thought that by pushing his overabundant feelings onto you, you would be able to open up. But that simply wasn't the case. You weren't happy. You weren't comforted. You were _terrified_.

"Don't squash me!" you finally gasped out, " _Please_! Your emotions are stronger than mine! You're c-crushing me!"

"I-! I didn't mean to-! I'm so sorry! I just want you to feel better!"

You pressed your head to the ground as you fended off another wave of reassurance. Thankfully it was weakened by the swirling guilt and confusion that Papyrus was feeling.

 **I didn't know... But what do I do now? I can't make them feel better if just trying hurts them! Th-this is hard!**

The echoing thoughts in your head swirled and tightened, trying to come up with a solution but only delivering a headache. Every option seemed like a dead end, leaving you with a fluttery and panicked feeling in your chest. You could tell that Papyrus was fretting over you, but also trying to restrain himself. You felt bad for putting him in such a position- he'd always been friendly to you and hadn't meant any wrong- but you needed him to keep his distance, despite how ridiculous that sounded given the situation.

 _He really does think he's helping. Heck, I didn't even realise how wrong everything's been until a moment ago myself_ , you thought to absently as you clawed desperately for a way to resolve your situation, _He's not the kind of guy to be inactive either. If I can't make him understand what he's been doing to me here and now then I might never get another chance! I just won't have the sense to talk it out later! I'll be swept away like before and all my emotions will-_

 **GASP! Human, is that you!?**

The sudden volume in your head made you flinch hard. Why had it gotten so loud suddenl-

"Papyrus? Was that- did you just _say_ the word 'gasp'?"

 **No, no, no! Go back to- I mean yes, I did say that but- go back to the way you were talking before!**

 _What's he talking about?_ you wondered, confused by-

 **Yes! Like that!** Papyrus shouted enthusiastically and your body whipped up straight as you felt the familiar feel of stars in your eye sockets, **I can hear you in my head! This is amazing!**

You blinked slowly. Papyrus could hear you. More accurately, he could hear your thoughts and... you could hear his! It was a weird and unexpected development, one that prompted questions of _How?_ and _Why now?_

 **I don't know!** came the unnecessary response, coupled with the feeling of childish glee.

 _That's- You can hear me right now?_ you probed.

 **I can! Wowie! This is like a superpower! Both of us can read minds!**

 _Except it's kind of cheating when both minds are in the same head..._

As interesting as the discovery was, you were still confused. You'd been able to detect Papyrus' emotions for quite some time, so why were you only now able to hear each other's thoughts? Had it been a delayed reaction?

 _Maybe it's a sign that we're losing ourselves,_ your anxieties snuck in their opinion, _Maybe over time my Soul will be so set inside of Papyrus that I won't be able to tell who I was any more. My Soul might disappear eventually and then-_

 **No! No! Don't think like that! It'll be okay!**

 _Wait, I didn't-!_ You grit your teeth as a wave of reassurance smacked you head on. The sudden twist of events had lowered your guard, leaving you vulnerable to the skeleton's emotional pressure. Flailing in panic, you steeled yourself again to fend off the sudden emotional tidal wave. Luckily the assault was short lived, and you found yourself coming back to your senses, body shaking and head spinning.

 **What... Human, are you okay? W-what happened?** Papyrus asked, and you distantly noted that he felt scared and upset.

 _That was... Don't do that..._

You pushed the thought in Papyrus' direction and went back to breathing, grateful that you didn't have to expend as much effort as normal when communicating by thought.

 **I don't understand,** you felt your eyes begin to fill with tears yet again, **I'm trying so hard to help! Why is everything I do making things worse? There has to be a way to fix this! S-somehow...**

Pity filled you as you heard Papyrus' thoughts echo over to you. He really had been swamping you with those happy feelings to try and cheer you up. It was just unfortunate that by pushing his positivity on top of your head he had kind of emotionally flattened you with it's weight...

Instantly, you were reminded of your prior train of thought; you had to tell Papyrus not to do that again! Maybe with your weird psychic link you could get your whole point across before something else got in the way!

 _Papyrus!_ you shouted in your mind, _I know you didn't mean it! You were trying to cheer me up, I know, but you can't just heap a ton of positivity on top of my head and expect it to be fine!_

 **But- you-?** Papyrus began, thoughts fading in and out of your understanding as he tried to figure out what to say, **I don't understand. You were so sad! All those bad thoughts can't be good for you!**

 _Sometimes people have bad thoughts,_ you assured him, _Just because I had a bad thought doesn't mean it's all I'm thinking of! Everyone has bad or sad thoughts sometimes._

 **Do they? Hmm, but I'm a part of 'everyone' too. I don't think I have bad thoughts. And even if some people have bad thoughts sometimes, that doesn't mean they're good. They wouldn't be called 'bad' if they were 'good'! Those are two separate things!**

You could tell that Papyrus' confused thoughts were more directed at himself rather than at you, but you felt the need to interrupt him anyway; _You're right, 'bad' and 'good' are separate things. But it's not that simple! Thoughts are different; if you don't think about the 'bad' stuff, then how can you deal with it? You'd be caught off guard if you didn't think up a few bad scenarios to prepare yourself for stuff, right?_

 **That... makes sense, I think? Oh, do they mean like battle strategies!? Like when the Captain has to plan for a difficult battle and they have to take the evil enemy army's numbers into account? If they couldn't do scenario drills then-**

You breathed out a small sigh of relief as Papyrus fell into deep thought. The echoes of his voice became distant as he mulled over your words until you could barely hear him. It seemed that he understood at least a bit of what you were saying, even though you probably hadn't gotten it across very well. Explaining anxiety and intrusive thoughts was tough, especially to someone like Papyrus who wasn't very good at recognizing his own. And he _must've_ had those kinds of thoughts; you'd sensed him feel nervous and sad yourself even _before_ the big breakdown! But those feelings were always pushed aside in favour of an almost impossibly bright and positive attitude. Speaking of which...

 _Hey, Papyrus?_ you began, pressing outwards to see if you could somehow 'feel' his presence. You could still sense his emotions, but other than knowing they were there and somewhat separate from yours, you couldn't exactly pin down which direction they stemmed from. All you knew was that you existed on your side and he existed on his- though even the definition of 'sides' was blurry now that the wall of unrelenting positivity between you had broken down.

 **Huh? What is it human?** Papyrus asked, and you swore you heard a slightly quieter echo of an unsaid 'Did I do something else wrong?'

 _Before,_ when I said you were crushing me, you felt the skeleton flinch and flood with guilt, _I need you to try and not do it again, okay? Please. Don't do it again..._

 **I-** 'm sorry, I didn't know **\- How will I know if I'm doing that?**

 _I don't actually kno_ _\- Wait! You remember how you said I was acting off before?_ you suddenly recalled, _If you sense me acting like that again then you'll know that something's wrong!_

 **Right. Yeah, okay! That could work! Except... I couldn't sense anything from you back then! Which was weird because I know I felt you feeling sad in the Ruins, and I can sense you now but-! Back then I couldn't feel you at all! It was like you weren't there!**

A sliver of fear slipped out of Papyrus and curled coldly around you. Did he get scared that you had disappeared for good when he couldn't sense you? Or had you simply become that unsettling while you were emotionless? From your perspective you'd been a bit cold, but nothing terrifying enough to spawn actual fear. Was your memory warped from the experience? Had you really come off as that scary?

 _I'm sorry,_ you started the thought automatically before you could think of anything else to say, _my emotions were being squashed-_ _by you_ _\- and I was being weird. I don't remember a lot of what happened._

There was a moment of pause before your words registered. Big, magical tears began to build up in your eyes again as Papyrus caught your accidental thoughts, practically blinding you behind their shining surfaces.

"Wait, no, no, no, no, no! I -sniff- didn't mean to think that!" you accidentally yelled aloud as Papyrus began to sniffle, "I meant that- I'm- I don't know what to say!" - _except that you kinda accidentally took my emotions away for a while._

...

 **I'm** _ **soooooooooooorryyyyyyyy**_ **!** "I'm _soooooooooooorryyyyyyyy_!"

Papyrus wailed both mentally and out loud as you were treated to another round of his outrageously strong emotions. Tears began to stream out of your eyes yet again, wetting the red dirt you were kneeling on. Guilt lay unbelievably heavy inside of Papyrus, ironically making you feel guilty about the comparatively smaller amount of guilt you felt for making the poor skeleton upset again- and even that amount of guilt wasn't strong enough to match his! Comparing your emotional capacity to his seemed like comparing a puddle to the ocean; he simply had much deeper reserves to draw from. But regardless of the amount of guilt you were both feeling, there was another, _stranger_ feeling flowing through you. Something you hadn't been able to pinpoint for a while...

 _H-hey, Papyrus? Do you feel that?_

Still sniffling, Papyrus managed to compose himself enough to focus on the weird sensation passing between you.

 _Is it just me or does it feel..._

 **... familiar.** Papyrus finished, weakly drying his tears and frowning in concentration, **It reminds me of-**

 _When we were both feeling bad for Napstablook!_ you finished for him.

 **And when we both remembered that thing in the Ruins at the same time!** he added quickly.

 _So, whenever we feel the same thing-_

 **-this feeling appears!**

 _I think that's what happened earlier too,_ you hummed as you remembered the sensation of the emotional wall between Papyrus and yourself breaking, _You began to panic and feel upset, and my emotions suddenly started to come back..._

Remembering the building sensations of trepidation and sadness before the snap, you wondered if perhaps those emotions were what you should have been feeling from all the way back in the Ruins. The strength of your despair had been terrifying in and of itself- as though all that you should have been feeling during that time hit you at once. Maybe by accidentally masking your negative feelings with his positive ones, Papyrus hadn't simply squashed you, but neutralized you and held your emotions at bay until his positivity broke and you re-synchronized.

The theory was so interesting that you had to share it with Papyrus.

 **B-but, you** _ **said**_ **that I squashed you… Was that not true?** Papyrus hesitantly asked.

 _It could still be that,_ you thought before you could stop yourself, quickly correcting your mistake with a hasty, _or it could be because of this new reason! I mean, there's no real way of knowing, but we have to consider it. I think if we can synchronize our emotions better we'll have an easier time!_

 _Or at least I hope so..._ your anxieties whispered, and your were relieved when Papyrus either didn't hear them or chose to ignore them.

 **Well, that should be easy for me! Along with my physical and culinary training, I have also trained myself tirelessly both mentally and emotionally!** he chimed confidently, and you not-so-subtly eyed the smudged tear tracks running down from your eye sockets. Blushing but unwilling to admit his moment of weakness aloud (and to someone who had already witnessed the whole ordeal, the silly skeleton), Papyrus continued as if he couldn't see the problem, **N-not to mention that all monsters naturally have lots of love in their Souls! If you are in need of an emotional rescue then I will swear myself to being your skeleton in shining armor!**

 _I, uh, yeah? Okay?_ you snickered in confusion. You weren't feeling all that confident about your situation, but you couldn't deny that Papyrus believed in himself and was completely serious about his promise. In a way it was kind of silly, but it also granted you a huge amount of relief, which in turn filled the skeleton with pride for finally making you a little happier.

 _If only we'd worked this out from the beginning..._ you thought bitterly.

 **Yes, but now we know what we're doing-!** **probably** **-!** Papyrus reassured you, **So we'll be prepared for the future! You have to think about the bad stuff first before you're prepared for it, right?**

"Uh, yeah, right..." you mumbled aloud, wiping your face until there were no more annoying tear tracks to blur your vision. Papyrus was right. You'd suffered through some bad stuff and survived, so now you had experience. If the situation repeated itself then you would definitely be able to work your way out of it safely without the need of another breakdown. Maybe. Hopefully.

The only thing left to do was… um...

...

 _Uh, hey, what do we do now?_

 **I... was kind of hoping that you would think of something!**

...

Of course it wouldn't be that easy.

* * *

...

...

...

Oh boy, this Chapter wasn't easy. I had to go over previous Chapters just to remember how the Reader is _supposed_ to be. Y'know, with all their emotions and paranoia and junk. Hope it's up to scratch!


	21. Reluctant Resolve

Hey guys! I'm sorry I don't really give responses to your reviews... It's just really hard for me to get internet at the moment! I just want to give a heads up that I will be publishing a slight alternate timeline of events after the next Chapter! There will be more details at the bottom of the page.

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 _Let' s just go back to Toriel's house,_ you suggested. There seemed to be nothing else you could do in your situation, what with the only other option being to stay where you were just in case everything would spontaneously spring back to normal. With your little adventure to meet Gerson (the Wonderful Wizard of Underground, who had proved to be just as effective as the Oz version) finally over, you were beginning to worry about Toriel.

During your time as an emotionless echo of yourself, you had completely forgotten your concern over the motherly goat. You wondered if maybe she had noticed your and Papyrus' sudden disappearance yet. Part of you hoped not, since she had only _just_ opened up to you about her delicate emotional state, right before you were thrown haphazardly into an even bigger mess. You didn't want to think about what her reaction might have been if she thought you had left forever after your little heart-to-heart. She didn't deserve that.

However Papyrus was feeling a different kind of concern than you were. Just mentioning returning to the Ruins had spiked his nerves and made him sweat.

 **No! We can't go back to the Ruins yet!** The thought was so loud and sudden that you almost believed he'd yelled it aloud.

 _Calm down,_ you thought, wondering if the panicked skeleton had even meant for you to catch his screaming thoughts due to the way he flinched, _I know it'll be difficult to explain everything, but we can't just leave Toriel and your brother to worry like this. They probably have no idea where we are right now._

 **But if we do that-** Sans will **\- ...**

The thought faded out of your hearing, making you equal parts curious and concerned. Was Papyrus really that worried about how his brother would react? Then again, perhaps his worry was justified. You yourself had had a difficult time with the guy- from being interrogated while you were unsuspecting and vulnerable to being outright attacked by him. Sure, he'd apparently had good intentions, but that still didn't really excuse his methods. Add on top of that the time that Papyrus had slipped and called him 'controlling' as well as your creeping suspicion that he was a huge liar and- well, he didn't exactly have the best looking record.

But all of that didn't mean that you could just dodge the responsibility of letting him know what was up with his brother. Not to mention that avoiding him would likely lead to avoiding Toriel, who had done no wrong. All in all, back tracking to the Ruins seemed the most logical option; you just needed to convince Papyrus of that too.

Deciding an empathetic approach would work best, you began to shift your thoughts back into focus.

 _Listen, Papyrus, I'm not looking forward to it either,_ you began, listening carefully to the vague mumble in the back of your head (which you now understood to be his deeper thoughts) for any interjections, _but we don't have anywhere else to go._

 **But-** **what about-?** I **\- We need to fix you! If we go back like this, then it- it would be like giving up!**

 _I don't think there is a way to fix me…_ you thought bitterly, immediately realising that Papyrus also heard it when he let out a distressed shout.

"No! No giving up!" he stood up and yelled aloud, "There _is_ a way to sort this out, I know it! We're just not looking hard enough!"

 _Well, that rock DID say that Toriel might have some knowledge about this kind of stuff._

"Um? W-wait…!"

The confusion and panic that followed your suggestion was accompanied by thoughts that sped by so fast and overlapped so often that you couldn't really pick up anything in particular. It was like being in the middle of a concerned crowd; his thoughts became an unintelligible hum, save for a few words that broke through the white noise.

 **-** did that **Sans would** be **-** and then **Sans** might **-** but **what if Sans-?**

 _Is Sans really that scary?_ You wondered. Practically every thought that ran screaming through the skeleton's head involved his brother in some way. Sure, Sans had given _you_ more than enough reasons to be wary, despite your want to give him the benefit of the doubt, but you'd never thought that Papyrus would be intimidated by him too.

 **Wh-what? Intimidated!? I don't feel that way at all!** Papyrus declared as he caught the tail end of your train of thought, **My brother is not even the least bit scary! Unless you count his poor personal hygiene and lack of exercise as scary! Because in that case he would be absolutely** _ **terrifying**_ **!**

 _That's… pretty funny. But not what I meant._

 **That was no jest, human! Have you ever tried to share a room with an avid sock collector!? I think you'll find that it is quite-**

 _What I meant is that you keep thinking about how Sans is going to react to this,_ you pointed out before the conversation could derail any further. _It sounds like you're scared that he'll be mad at you. Like… he'll do something._

 **Oh… Well that actually wasn't what I was thinking about at** _ **all**_ **!**

The ease of the admission and casual tone of the thought assured you that it was genuine- but you would be lying if you said you didn't feel slightly shocked. If Papyrus wasn't at all intimidated by his brother or worried that he would be punished for what was technically your own man-slaughter, then what was his problem? Your curiosity quickly battled with your respect for other people's privacy and barely made it out on top, urging you to ( _respectfully_ ) pry into the skeleton's motives and reasoning.

 _Okay, so… you're not scared of your brother or of being punished for what happened to us- and I'm sorry for assuming that- but then, why are you worried about his reaction at all?_

There was another instant where you could distantly feel Papyrus work through some kind of mental process, followed by a thought that carried a tone of anxiety and secrecy, as though it was being whispered in your ear: **Do you promise that you won't tell?**

 _Of course I won't tell._ As if he needed your word- you existed in the same body! If you even _thought_ about spilling any secrets then Papyrus would obviously be the first to know. Regardless, it was the feeling of confidence behind your words that convinced the nervous skeleton to share his secret.

 **Well, you should never mention to this to Sans (because** _ **I**_ **did once and he rebuffed me with the worst puns I have** _ **ever**_ **heard, so you can trust me when I say that not only will it get you nowhere but you will sorely regret it and- what was my point? Oh, that's right-) He is actually very moody! In fact (if you remember what I said yesterday), he has been rapidly declining for a long while!**

 _Moody? Papyrus, you said you weren't scared of his reaction…_

 **Yes I did! But I also specifically said that I was not scared of his reaction towards** _ **us**_ **!** **How he reacts on his own is completely different! The detail is within the, um… other details? I just don't want to upset Sans more than he already pretends he's not!**

The skeleton's odd phrasing added extra seconds of pause before what he'd said finally clicked and- Oh. Of course. How could you have assumed that Papyrus, that big enthusiastic, hopeful, soft-hearted pile of bones, would think any different? Hadn't he already implied about this stuff before? Sure, you had been a bit preoccupied since yesterday, but you hadn't expected to forget so easily after talking to _Sans himself_ about it.

If his brother was as 'moody' as Papyrus claimed, then...

 _You were never scared about what would happen to you or us,_ you blinked in realisation, _You were only scared of what Sans would do to himself when he found out about what happened..._

 _ **If**_ **!** _ **If**_ **he finds out!** Papyrus corrected you, **I know my brother well enough to know that he will somehow blame himself for this mess! It's a terrible habit he's developed over the past few months- maybe more. It might even be worse than all his other terrible habits** _ **put together**_ **! But things started to get better once we began making regular trips to the Ruins! I mean, I didn't even have to throw him out of bed most mornings! He was already up and awake and making terrible jokes with the** Q **\- Toriel! And then you showed up and he started to become even** _ **more**_ **attentive! It was unbelievable! After all my brilliantly crafted plans ended in failure and bad puns, he was suddenly acting almost like normal again! I ingeniously crafted today's round of puzzles and picnics as a final reassurance that he didn't have to be such a weird worrywart any more! It was going so well too-** until the bit at the end where our conversation was interrupted when Toriel came running in and **\- Anyway, we can't give up on that progress! That is why we must** _ **never**_ **give up and solve this unexpected puzzle together! … And also not go back to the Ruins because we will definitely be caught.**

You stood in awe for a second, warmed by the hope and confidence Papyrus felt both for and in his brother. His motivations were much clearer to you now. All except for one point…

 _But the rock back in the Ruins said that it would tell Toriel and Sans about what happened when they came back. We've been gone for a long while. Both of them probably know what's happened to us by now._

 **Fear not, human! For I have already considered that fact!** Papyrus confidently declared, **I've been avoiding the areas where Sans would try to find me! Like when we stealthed our way around Snowdin and took unconventional puzzle paths! And look how well it has worked! We remain undiscovered!**

 _But I thought you wanted him to worry LESS?_ You brought a hand to your head, confused by the skeleton's conflicting logic. _Papyrus, if you knew that Sans and Toriel probably already knew that we were in trouble, why not let them help? Running around like this and avoiding them on purpose is probably terrifying them!_

 **No, but you see, they'll be so relieved when we come back like normal! If we go back now without solving anything, Sans will most likely forbid us from leaving the house again. And Toriel will agree with him! But if we solve this problem on our own then they will realise that they never had anything to worry about! This could be a once in a lifetime opportunity to prove that we can be responsible for ourselves!**

If you were able to filter your words like normal, you probably would have responded to Papyrus' plan with detailed reasoning as to why his logic couldn't and _shouldn't_ be applied to your specific situation. You might have even gone so far as to try and make the skeleton imagine what it would probably be like in his brother's shoes at that very moment. Unfortunately, your thoughts were open and weren't held back by the normal process of ' _idea_ ', ' _consideration_ ', and finally ' _speech_ '- so your first reaction boiled down to a simple and eloquent; _That's stupid!_

 **Stupid!? Oh, wait, I see! You must have misunderstood me somewhere while I was explaining! Let me start again from the beginning-**

 _No!_ you interrupted, irritated beyond belief at his complete failure to accept your criticism, _That's-? Papyrus! That makes no sense! You're just creating more problems!_

 **No, no, no, human,** Papyrus tutted like a parent gently explaining a concept to a child, **the point of any good plan is to solve problems, not create them!**

 _Well then your plan isn't a good one!_

You burned in frustration, but pushed it aside to think clearly. No good would come of you simply reprimanding the skeleton for his naive and poorly thought out attempts to save his brother from worry. You had to make him understand _why_ his idea would hurt more than help.

 _Listen, I don't think that you're going to be able to fix me,_ you thought, before realising that perhaps you should have started with a softer blow than the fact you were undeniably dead. Regardless of your lack of tact, you forced yourself to continue on simply so Papyrus couldn't interrupt you. _By refusing to go back to the Ruins and avoiding Sans, you're just going to make things even worse for when we inevitably get caught! You can't reverse death! If you keep avoiding going home until you fix me, then you're pretty much going to end up wandering around forever. This isn't a puzzle that can be solved. It wasn't even a 'puzzle' to begin with. All you- All_ _ **we've**_ _actuaĺly managed to do is run away and scare people. There's literally nothing else we can do about it. I'm sorry._

There was a moment of silence as you mentally crossed your fingers and hoped that Papyrus would understand and accept your words. As much as you would like to be restored to life, you couldn't imagine it being possible and it was causing you a lot of stress. Returning to the Ruins wasn't just for the monster's benefit; it was for your own peace of mind too. You needed to discuss your situation with someone who would listen to your concerns and act on them, not try to convince you to cover them up with a smile. Of course, despite Gerson seeming knowledgeable on your situation, the only person you could think of who would listen was Toriel. Sans had at least been right about the other monsters in the Underground not being fond of humans; you would find no comfort from anyone outside the trio who had saved you in the first place.

 **Well… Then maybe we** _ **will**_ **have to ask Toriel for help.**

Yes! Luck was on your side! Now you could-

 **\- But we cannot return empty handed! What would they say if we spent so much time avoiding them only to come back with nothing? We should steel ourselves and do something that will impress Sans! And Toriel! We'll impress both of them!**

 _Are you kidding me?_ a bitter part of you hissed in frustration. You couldn't help but to bring both of your gloved hands up to your eyes in disbelief, a bitter chuckle slipping through when you distantly heard Papyrus' thoughts suddenly scream **Aah! I've gone blind!**

 _What else could we possibly do?_ You asked Papyrus as you dropped your hands and gestured outwards, _There's nothing out here!_

For the first time you both actively examined the plateau you had isolated yourselves on. True to your word, the area you were in was deadly silent. Compressed red dirt and rock that made up the platform sizzled beneath your boots. Something bubbled deep beneath the ground, distant and slow. Whisps of smoke wafted up from the cliffsides, carrying a heat that you couldn't truly feel. The ceiling high above your head reflected the red glow from far below, making you wonder if you were standing within the belly of a sleeping volcano, despite never hearing anything about Mt. Ebott being a volcanic area.

Overall, the place wasn't just void of anything to do, it was seemingly void of any signs of life at all. Now that you were paying attention, every breath of air seemed heavy. The silent and red-tinted atmosphere was so overwhelmingly oppressive that even Papyrus couldn't suppress a twinge of homesickness.

Just as you were about to turn away from the vast cavern and continue ranting, a sudden movement caught your eye.

Across the ravine that separated you from the main land stood a few scraggly looking cacti and a sign which had been recently knocked over (possibly in your haste to reach the platform). It was fairly bare except for the small yellow thing bouncing up and down and trying to call out to you from the other side of the magma filled gap.

 **Oh! It is our child friend!** Papyrus clapped his hands together gleefully. And he was right, because the arm-less Monster Kid was desperately jumping up and down and running in circles near the cliff side to get your attention.

 _Should… we go back over there?_ You thought. On one hand, you and Papyrus were nowhere near done with your talk; but on the other, MK was running around like a bomb was strapped to his back and you were concerned he would trip over the cliff's edge.

 **I think we should!**

You eyed the gap between your isolated plateau and the main rise of land. It was actually a fair distance from one area and the next. How had you ever made the jump earlier? No one could possibly vault that far! Were you stuck?

 **Fear not!** Papyrus sensed your doubt and rushed to reassure you, **With my magic, any gap- from the smallest pot-hole to the deepest ravine- is easily conquered!**

He took a few steps back and readied you both to jump…

 _Wait!_

You turned and knelt to the ground.

Just as you'd suspected when you'd dropped it, your corpse lay on an awkward angle. One arm was pinned underneath its torso while the other lay flung forward. It was incredibly limp and dirty from being so roughly discarded. You picked it up carefully, checking for any severe damages. With your emotions returned, the sight of your own lifeless face was both surreal and disturbing. Part of you even felt like crying again, but you honestly didn't have the energy for a second round of that fiasco. Red hot dirt had gathered on its clothes and face, and one of you gently brushed it off, though you were too numb to figure out if it had been you or Papyrus.

"I'd feel better if we could just carry this for a bit longer… Even if it's useless," you mumbled aloud as you hid your own corpse away in Papyrus' cape once more.

 **Of course! Anything that makes my human friend feel better is something worth doing! Reliable and Papyrus have at least one letter in common** (I think) **, so your comfort in guaranteed! Now, back to that five-hundred-foot magma-filled drop!**

Standing upright again and with your corpse once again bundled under one arm, Papyrus suddenly bolted over cliff side, almost making you scream with how fast he took off. For a single, terrifying moment, you caught a glimpse of boiling lava far below you. The feeling of plummeting speedily downwards turned the stomach which you technically didn't have. There was nothing around to stop or slow your descent, and in a weird moment of clarity you realised that you had just allowed Papyrus to jump off a cliff without any objections. What were you _thinking_!?

Despite his speed and long legs, the skeleton was still short of the other platform by about ten meters. It was then that you realised that you were definitely _not_ going to make the jump, and instead burn to ash in the stomach of the mountain below. And yet Papyrus remained unfazed.

Suddenly everything shifted and you were pulling upwards and away from the scorching depths once more. It was as though gravity had reversed itself, and you were no longer at risk of falling into lava, but instead impaling yourself on the stalagmites above you. Your base instincts demanded that you flail in panic, but you restrained them as Papyrus confidently cleared the gap and landed next to the broken sign that said something about art meetings.

As soon as your boots hit the ground, you stared in wonder behind you. Just what had happened there?

"Wow! That was awesome!" came an enthusiastic yell by your feet. "I didn't know skeleton's could fly!"

Neither had you, but you were inclined to agree with the judgement. Even if it had been less like flight and more like emulating a flimsy paper plane caught amidst a bunch of powerful fans, the feeling of Papyrus' 'flight' had been exhilarating. You had honestly forgotten that that was a thing he could do.

"Nyeh heh heh! I knew that would impress you! But such magic is merely child's play for the Great Papyrus!"

He posed dramatically and you felt amusement at the pride swelling inside of the boastful skeleton. Whether his words were aimed at you or the starry-eyed Monster Kid at your feet, you didn't know, but you did feel the need to send him a silent message saying; _That was pretty cool._

The giddy pride instantly increased tenfold at your praise and you had to mentally pull yourself away from it. Even when he didn't mean to, Papyrus' emotions were constantly pressing into your space in his head- they were just that strong. You decided to try and dull the sudden wave by taking action and talking to MK.

"Why are you here?" you asked calmly, "Did you follow us- I mean, me?"

"Well, yeah! I spent _ages_ trying to track you down!" the kid jumped up and down excitedly, before suddenly stopping, "Um, hey… Are you okay? You sound different."

"U-um-" you stuttered, cursing yourself for forgetting that it had been mostly Papyrus who spoke to the kid. Was the difference between the two of you that obvious, even with your emotions restored? You mentally called out for Papyrus' help and felt immensely grateful when he took over the conversation for you.

"I'M FINE!" he yelled loudly, and not at all convincingly. But it seemed to satisfy MK, who was busy staring in awe at your face.

"Hey, what happened to your eyes? They're not all flicker-y anymore. Did they break?"

"N-nothing is wrong with my eyes, I assure you!" Papyrus bluffed, before nervously kneeling down to MK's height and asking, "What looks different about them?"

"Hmm," the kid hummed as he jumped atop one of your bony legs and stared hard into your eye sockets, "Before your eyes were all weird, like the light in my house's laundry room that takes a while to turn on and we keep thinking it's gonna break or just not switch on... Now you only have one light in your right eye. But just a moment ago it was pink- And in the other socket, too!"

"O-oh! That's… very interesting! Thank you!" Papyrus smiled.

 _Maybe it's because we're in sync now? I mean, I can finally think clearly and you recovered pretty quickly from our little breakdown too,_ you thought, throwing the idea in Papyrus' direction.

"Yes! That must be it!"

"What must be it?" MK asked, confused.

"N-nothing!" Papyrus lied and you inwardly groaned. Of course your newly formed mental link would cause a weird communication problem. You would have to be mindful of what you said internally and what you said aloud; though whether Papyrus could keep up was a different issue. "Anyway! What are you doing here? I thought you were going home soon!?"

"Well, I _was_ ," MK jumped off your leg and back onto the ground, "but after you ran off that old man told me to run after you and tell you some stuff-"

You tilted your head in curiosity. Gerson had sent MK after you both with a message? There was a good chance that it would be more bad news, but you brushed that negative thought away in favour of politeness and Papyrus' own innocent curiosity. The kid had chased you down for who knew how far, the least you could do was listen to the little monster.

"-but I totally forgot what he said!"

…

Okay. Nevermind then.

"But, hey, all that stuff is true, right? About you taking a human's Soul?" MK bounced excitedly and you immediately felt Papyrus become nervous again.

"Well, I didn't necessarily _take_ it…" he said sheepishly.

"But you've still got one, yeah?" he pressed and Papyrus nodded. "Awesome! You could totally go and kick that stupid human's butt for killing Undyne!"

"Um…" Both of you twisted uncomfortably at the suggestion; you because tracking down a murderer sounded like a terrible idea, and Papyrus because- "I'm still not sure about how to feel about what you said about Undyne…"

Monster Kid bristled, "What? _Seriously_!? How can you not believe me!? Literally EVERYONE knows this stuff! Is it because you don't have ears?"

"My lack of ears has nothing to do with it! And you don't have ears either!" Papyrus huffed in offense, "I just don't believe that Undyne would ever lose! Especially not to a human who I never saw engage in serious combat!"

"Well, I guess I used to think the same, until…" Suddenly, MK's eyes lit up, "Dude! I know! Why don't you go track down that human and see for yourself! And _then_ you kick their butt!"

 **That's not a bad idea!**

 _That is a VERY bad idea!_

 **Well, maybe the butt kicking is bad…**

 _Papyrus, no!_ You growled in frustration, _Worst case scenario you'll end up facing a killer!_

 **Ooooor I could end up fixing a huge misunderstanding! Oh! And Sans would be super impressed too! This is just what we were looking for!**

" _No_!" you yelled aloud, standing up to your full height, "It's a bad idea! Not to mention dangerous!"

"What!?" MK yelled, mistakenly thinking your outburst was at him, "But you've got a human Soul! Aren't you, like, super powerful? You could totally get them and break the barrier too! Don't you want to be free? You're supposed to be a hero!"

 **A h-h-hero!?** Papyrus internally gasped, **If I became a hero th-then… I would be so POPULAR! Everyone would line up just to see me and I would have so many people trying to talk to me all the time that even the Undernet couldn't keep track of all my friend requests! Even Sans might- Sans might-!**

"I accept your challenge, small friend!" Papyrus immediately shouted and started running off before you could stop him, "I will find the tiny human and cure them of their possibly-but-not-yet-confirmed evil ways! You can count of the Great Papyrus to- _oof!_ "

 _Stop right now!_ You yelled as your bony face collided with the ground. You'd purposefully crossed your own legs over to make the both of you trip, but you were more than willing to take the (literal) fall. Couldn't Papyrus see how _insane_ the kid's suggestion was!? No. Of course he couldn't. You could hear his thoughts and all they seemed to contain were a few snippets of celebrity life and the exciting prospect of getting his brother out of the weird rut he was digging for himself. Honestly, the guy had more heart than the rest of the world combined, but that left absolutely no room for even a _shred_ of self preservation.

 **Human! Why did you stop me?** he whined, **This is a fantastic opportunity!**

 _I thought we were going to try and work together!_ _What about my opinion!?_ you countered angrily, sighing as Papyrus flinched hard from guilt, _You can't just run off like that without letting me say anything about it! What if this crazy idea ends up leaving Toriel and Sans with TWO dead bodies instead of-_

 _Whump!_

Pulling your face from the dirt and looking to the left, you saw MK face-planted similarly onto the ground and smiling at you with a curious and hopeful glint in his eyes.

"You mean that? You're really gonna save everyone?" he asked you quietly as you both lay on the ground.

A shot of guilt hit you square in the chest as the kid stared at you. They were really hoping that you would go after that killer.

"Ye- um- I- er-?" you and Papyrus stumbled over each other, minds conflicting and thoughts overlapping as you tried to come to some sort of a conclusion.

Papyrus obviously wanted to try it. He didn't want to go back to the Ruins having achieved nothing but your accidental demise. The idea of becoming a hero made him ecstatic, and the possibility of seeing the supposed human murderer (who was apparently his 'friend') had convinced him that running out on a new adventure was a great idea.

You, however, had a different mindset. Papyrus had seemingly never encountered someone with true killing intent- but you had. The idea of purposefully hunting down someone as similarly unhinged as your attacker made your skin crawl (well, if you still had skin it would be crawling- the only equivalent Papyrus' body provided was an uneasy swirling of static-like magic). You'd already been horribly attacked once, you weren't prepared for a second round. Not only that, but if Papyrus were to get hurt (or, god forbid, _die_ ) you would- Well, you didn't really know what would happen. To either of you.

Taking your internal debate as hesitation, MK sighed, blowing around some of the hot dust with his exhale.

"I guess you don't… _have_ to kick the human's butt," he muttered bitterly, "even if they totally deserve it. But… could you at least try to free us? I… want to be able to see the sky one day. And I want my Mom (and my sister, I guess) to… smile again. So, um… _please_?"

Whatever it was that skeleton monsters had for a heart, you could feel it breaking under MK's teary-eyed stare.

"Um, Mr Gerson said- Jeez, I kinda ran out of there pretty fast to catch up… I think he said that you can cross the barrier with the human's Soul? I mean, that's what the old story said, so that's probably it. And then you can just break it from the outside! It'll probably be _way_ too easy for you!" A half-hearted and nervous giggle burst out of the kid as they continued to stare at you hopefully.

That was right… Toriel had said when you first arrived that both a monster Soul and a human Soul were needed to cross the barrier. You could finally leave... but only while stuck in Papyrus' body. There was no point in you going above ground while looking like you did, was there? Wouldn't you scare people, being a giant skeleton and all? But then again, it seemed selfish to leave an entire race of people trapped beneath a mountain simply because _you specifically_ didn't gain much from their freedom. It was just... the _risks_...

Glancing down at the bundle of red fabric you had narrowly missed crushing under your weight, you were sobered by the reaffirmation that you were definitely, one-hundred-percent deceased. Who were you to stand between the entire monster race and a sky they hadn't seen in who knew how long? You were just some ghost; a human presence who accidentally continued to persist after death because of a naive skeleton's honest mistake. Besides, if you didn't have to hunt down that murderer… maybe it wasn't the worst plan you'd ever heard after all? You could always talk to Toriel _after_ breaking down the barrier.

Finally, with Papyrus internally encouraging you all the way, you reluctantly let out a seriously uncertain "I guess I can… give it a go."

"YES! Hey, when you come back all famous and stuff, can I tell everyone that I was totally your friend before anyone else!?"

You had to curse your emotionless self, because honestly (depending on how things went), inviting MK along for your journey might have been one of the _worst_ decisions you'd ever made.

* * *

...

...

...

So. I plan to make an alternate split timeline of Temperance. It will actually be told through Sans and Toriel's perspective and will contain more of the fluff and family angst found in the first few Chapters of the Temperance story. I've already written the set up!

The thing is, thanks to the basis of the alternate story, I can accept prompts for Chapters! I want to do it so that you guys can have some input. Do you think that's a good idea? Please let me know!


	22. The Core Problem

'Hotland', as Papyrus called it, certainly lived up to its incredibly obvious and mundane name. Just like Waterfall, Hotland seemed quite desolate. After seeing off MK (who had encouraged you and Papyrus by calling you ' _Weird but still cool_ ' before running home), you found yourself staring absent-mindedly at the red-lit walls and billowing smoke towers along the elevated pathways. Only the bubbling of the magma far below accompanied the two of you as you walked, making you feel quite lonely and nervous.

 _Maybe we shouldn't be doing this after all,_ you thought quietly- and certainly not for the first time either. Ever since you had allowed guilt to dictate your decision to attempt the monster's dangerous plan, you'd been trying to find ways to take it back.

 **We can't give up now! We haven't even done anything yet! Think about the children! Or at the very least that one child! He would be so disappointed if you broke your promise so quickly!**

 _I didn't promise... technically…_

But you knew your argument was weak. Even though it was true that you hadn't promised anything by sticking to a weak "I'll try", the thought of breaking MK's excitable little heart made you falter. It was the same problem you'd run into with Sans when you 'promised' not to talk about your red-eyed attacker. You simply didn't want to be the cause of someone else's upset. Sure, you hadn't verbally sworn anything for certain, but it somehow _felt_ like you had. Ugh, you were so ridiculous! Why did your moral compass and anxiety-riddled thoughts have to make life so difficult?

Papyrus could easily sense the lack of conviction in your words, barely bothering to acknowledge your empty arguments as he continued to try and cheer you up.

 **Don't worry! I'm 100% certain that everything will go well! You can just leave it to me!**

You fought the urge to close your eyes for a deep, depressing sigh. Every time you did something like that your skeletal guide would panic for a second before trying to brush the event off like it hadn't startled him at all. Having his body act out without his say-so was probably unnerving, or maybe skeletons just didn't need to blink considering they had no eyes. You couldn't remember if you'd even blinked _once_ between the Ruins and Hotland; your memory of the trip being unnervingly void of details due to the disinterest of your previously apathetic self. Then again, why would Papyrus be capable of closing his eye sockets at all if he didn't somehow need the function? You honestly couldn't figure it out, nor did you feel comfortable enough to ask. You only knew that blinking away your frustration wasn't worth the dangerous distraction it would cause your head-buddy.

It was very important that Papyrus had his full focus at all times in Hotland. He was getting a lot of use out of his strange floating magic thanks to the sheer cliffs and crumbling puzzles in the area. More than once he had carried you both over magma-filled holes just so you could continue on. The 'road' you travelled along was so poorly maintained that you even got to experience the terror of feeling the ground fall away from under you at least _twice_. Luckily, Papyrus had saved the two of you from a fiery death both times, but you were still a bit shaken from it.

 _I still don't get how you can do this…_ you mumbled over to the skeleton as he cleared yet another gap with all the grace of a puppet being yanked around on elastic strings.

 **It's magic!** he responded helpfully, **Blue magic is a familiar ability for both Sans and myself! I have trained very hard to master such skillful manipulation of it!**

 _Blue magic, huh…?_ you thought to yourself. You honestly had no idea what 'Blue magic' was. You didn't dawdle on that though, too busy focussing on the fact that Sans could apparently wield it as well. For some reason, your mind decided to conjure up the image of the shorter skeleton using similar powers to gracelessly float himself around, similar to a plastic bag caught in the wind. The mental image was so strange that you almost burst out laughing.

 **What is so funny? Did I miss a joke?**

 _No, no, I just- thought about what Sans might use this kind of power for._

You hadn't meant to actually reveal what you'd been thinking about, but your thoughts transferred so quickly that you couldn't think of an excuse to replace it with. Oh well. It didn't really matter since the information was harmless. If only you could have shared the visual image too… it was pretty damn funny.

 **Bah! As if he would! My brother might have the same abilities, but using too much magic can be tiring! Because of that he barely ever exercises his full power- or exercises at all, really! He prefers find shortcuts around everything instead of expending the proper effort! If he'd just walk the distance or utilise his magic to travel the way I do, then he wouldn't be in such poor shape! That and a healthy diet are the key ingredients to a strong skeleton!**

 _Right. So magic is like any other strength; you have to practice it a lot before it becomes a proper skill._

 **Yes! Kind of! I mean, anyone can use magic! It's only natural! Working on it only makes you a stronger, healthier monster!**

 _Ha. Well, I'm not really magic OR a monster, now am I?_ You laughed a little, knowing you would never fully understand magic. Though it would've been cool if you could have wielded some like a monster...

 **Not magic? You?** Papyrus furrowed his brows, **I think there must be some mistake here! You are most certainly magical in some way! Your Soul was** _ **full**_ **of unfamiliar powers when I saw it!**

 _Wait, really?_ You wondered, _But if that's in my Soul then I probably can't access it. I mean, I'd never even seen my own Soul until yester- today. Um. I-it was today, I mean._

Your thoughts stumbled and stuttered as you tried to stop yourself from releasing too much information at once. Papyrus didn't know that the first time you'd seen your Soul was when his brother had attacked you. A large part of you wanted to keep it a secret; at least until the bulk of your problems were sorted out. To think, not even a minute ago you'd casually brushed off your thoughts being so easily overheard. It wasn't so nice when the thoughts trying to escape you were negative or potentially harmful.

 **Um? Human friend? Are you alright?** Papyrus asked through the restraining haze you had forced over your thoughts, **You sound very distant. And like you're talking over yourself a lot. It's impressive actually! You can think so many things at once! How convenient! Unfortunately, I have no idea what you're saying!**

 _That's fine,_ you responded, finally getting your head back in order without letting anything slip. _Don't worry about it._

 **Okay, I won't!** came the skeleton's cheerful chime, **But I wanted to Iet you know that you were actually mistaken about one other thing: you** _ **are**_ **a monster!**

You paused for a moment as the information sunk in. Technically… Papyrus was right. Huh. Somehow you hadn't taken in the fact that you were trapped in a skeletal body while declaring your human-ness. On one hand, you felt sad at the reminder that you had died and could no longer be 'yourself', quite possibly forever ensnared within the mind of another and a body you had no right to control. On the other hand, you could probably use magic. Yay?

 _Ah… haha… I guess you're right. I don't really know if using your magic is okay though. It seems kind of… invasive._ _As if literally existing in your head and stuff wasn't weird enough…_

Okay, so, that last bit had snuck it's way into your thoughts without your permission, but you at least got the basic message across. Not only did the feeling of Papyrus' magic seem unruly and a bit difficult to use, but you didn't want to do anything that meant you had to take control of his body too much. Sure, you'd been sitting in his head for a while, but sometimes moving around in Papyrus' body (even on accident) felt like you were stealing something. Kind of like if you'd gone into someone's room for the first time and didn't know what was okay to move and what wasn't. It wasn't as if Papyrus actually minded, and sure, you were okay with maybe gesturing to make a point or unconsciously making facial expressions, but there were some things that felt waaaaay too grey for you to be comfortable with. Using the skeleton's weird floaty-magic seemed like a pretty uncomfortable step over the mental line you were trying to maintain.

Papyrus, however, merely laughed as he came to a stop in the middle of the abandoned path.

 **Oh no, human friend! I would never expect anyone to be capable of properly wielding** _ **my**_ **magic! I've worked on it for so long after all! I was simply suggesting that now would be an excellent opportunity to practice your** _ **own**_ **human-y magic!**

 _Really? Is that okay?_ You asked, suddenly a bit more enthusiastic about the idea. The fact that you might have to use a bit of control to test the magic was still a bit of a blurry area, but if you could actually succeed in using magic… Well, it'd just be really darn cool!

 **Of course! Magic away!**

…

…

...

 _I, uh… don't know how._

 **WHAT!?** Papyrus mentally yelled, both his volume and feelings of disbelief making you flinch, **But even little babybones can use basic magic! How is it possible to** _ **not**_ **have the instinct to use something inside your own Soul?**

 _I don't know! Maybe that's just the way humans are?_

You honestly didn't know _why_ you'd never used magic, except for the fact that you just didn't know how to. No one you had ever known had used real magic. In fact, until you had encountered the monsters underneath the mountain you had thought it didn't exist. Humans just didn't seem all that magical to you, so it was easy to believe that it was only present in fairytales. However, once you _did_ discover it was real, it had somehow been a ridiculously easy thing to accept…

 **Oh! You poor *sniff*,** _ **poor**_ **human!** Papyrus whimpered (you noted that he'd somehow mentally recreated a sniffing sound for dramatic effect rather than making the noise aloud) **You have been denied so much! I can't possibly imagine what living without magic would be like! Mostly because my body is made up of a lot of it and I'd kinda fall to pieces if it was disrupted, so it's kind of uncomfortable for me to think about! Very well, human friend! I will now endeavour to grant you what fate has so cruelly denied you! I shall teach you the basics of magic!** **-** Oh my gosh-ness, I don't know how to teach about magical instincts! But how can I possibly leave a good friend deprived of such basic things? If only I'd thought to pick up a handbook beforehand! Oh, I know! How would Undyne do this…?

You stood awkwardly as Papyrus mulled over a few vague ideas somewhere in the back of his skull. After a moment his voice came back into focus, and he cleared his throat in a way that was an even more unnecessary gesture than usual because not only was he _still a skeleton_ , but he also _thought out_ the action in his head instead of recreating it with his body.

 **Alright then! I am ready to teach you!** he declared, much firmer than before. **And, um, you had better be ready also! Er- Punk!**

… _Punk?_

 **Yes! It is a specific genre of music involving torn clothes and dyed hair! Now please pay attention!**

A gloved hand hit your chest hard enough to cause a drum-like sound to bounce around in your ribs. You jolted slightly before realising that Papyrus had been responsible for the action.

 **Magic comes from the Soul! It is a part of your very being! All monsters have a great amount of magic inside of them! And I guess humans do too, apparently! All you need to unlock your true potential is lots and lots of** _ **passion**_ **!**

 _Passion…_ you repeated uncertainly.

 **Yes,** _ **passion**_ **! That is the key to success, I'm sure of it! Now, focus all of your** _ **passion**_ **towards the magic in your Soul and just** _ **go**_ **for it!**

Confused and kind of self-conscious, you lamely extended an arm out in front of you and tried to concentrate on… something. Your Soul probably. At least you'd seen it before, so you had that on your side. You could easily picture the small, pink heart in your mind, but that was all- it was just a static image conjured up by your imagination. Deciding to change it up a little, you sought out the feeling you'd had when you first sensed a decrease in your HP. Back then you had been able to feel your Soul even while it was in your body, so maybe that could help.

Unfortunately, switching tactics left you no better than before, as you somehow couldn't seem to locate the 'culmination of your being' when it wasn't damaged or directly in front of your face. Very quickly you found yourself not only stuck, but feeling increasingly ridiculous. If anyone saw you standing out in the middle of nowhere, silently gesturing out at nothing for no reason, you would be so-

Your sudden nerves brought your attention to something orange moving in the corner of your vision. Turning, you spotted a monster tucked away in the next juncture of the cave system. You guessed that they were probably a guy from their looks, standing around in a casual tee and pants (but then again some monsters literally took on the forms of rocks and dummies, so you could always be wrong). As your eyes met they jumped slightly, right before plastering on the biggest, most uncomfortable looking smile you'd ever seen in your life. It was obvious from that smile alone what had happened:

He. Saw. _Everything_.

Oh no, you were embarrassed! The look on that monster's face clearly said he thought you were crazy and was trying to brush off the fact that he'd been watching you act like a fool. All interest you'd had in performing magic quickly disappeared as a sudden, awkward stage fright gripped you by the non-existent guts.

 **What's wrong?** Papyrus asked you, clearly not seeing the problem with being silently judged by the strange monster, but rather concerned about the wave of nerves you were experiencing.

 _Oh my god, let's just leave!_ you hissed in your mind, ready to bolt away from the awkward tension that had suddenly built up in the air. _I- I can't concentrate. This magic stuff just isn't working for me._

 **Oh… that's a bit disappointing,** Papyrus sighed, **I suppose we'll just have to continue on with our heroic journey instead! I'm sure there will be plenty of other opportunities to practice your magic along the way!**

You breathed out a sigh of relief, eager to get away from the strange monster's stare and-

 **Now! Let's go ask that nice monster over there for directions!**

 _No! Papyrus!_ _Wait!_

Unfortunately for you, your long legs had already carried you over to the increasingly nervous looking monster. Before you could do anything to stop it, you found yourself pretty much towering over what appeared to be an orange, bipedal cat of some sort.

 **Hm? Oh no, I'm so sorry! Is there something over here that's worrying you? Because it feels like you're really uncomfortable right now!**

Papyrus' observation came far too late as your panicked and horribly embarrassed mind hit some kind of blank wall. You had no idea what to do or say once you found yourself in front of the other monster- and neither did he apparently. The poor guy was sweating bullets, eyes darting off to the sides as though trying to find an escape route. His painful looking smile was twitching and his entire body shaking as he glanced up at your face high above his trembling body. It was like he saw you as some sort of gang leader, standing over him as an intimidation tactic before you threatened to break his legs if he ever said anything about what he'd just seen.

Oh no. You probably _did_ look like that! All tall and menacing and eyeing him silently from under your red cowl… Anyone would be terrified!

Suddenly, you felt the strong urge to break the unbearable tension and just apologise for being such a _weirdo_.

"I'm really sorry-"

"Haha, s-sorry 'bout that-"

There was another awkward pause as both you and the cat monster stopped your apologies. The nervous monster giggled strangely as he avoided eye contact, staring worriedly off towards the lava-lit cave walls with his smile still barely stapled to his face.

"Ah, I was just saying sorry," you continued once you thought you had a better chance of not speaking over the poor guy again, "for, uh, weirding you out there. I _promise_ that what I was doing made sense in context!"

Your genuine, if not a little nervous, apology seemed to finally ease the tension in the sweating monster's body. His smile relaxed as he looked up at you again, still a bit on edge but mostly relieved that you weren't going to do anything strange.

"Ha… well! N-no problem, buddy!" He tried to act casual by giving you a small, friendly bump to your chest with his fist, only to accidentally push himself backwards a little from the force, shrinking into himself from embarrassment. Like, _literally_ shrink into himself out of embarrassment. It was as if his body was made out of melting putty the way that his face immediately became smaller and pulled into his shoulders, like he was trying to hide himself in his own neck. Regardless of his mistake, he managed to continue on, "I-I'm sorry for peeping on, uh, whatever it was you were doing…"

You nodded and opened your mouth to speak- " _Wonderful_! And now that we are friends getting along, I can ask for directions!"

It was amazing how fast Papyrus' naivety ruined the easing atmosphere. Though you both shared the same voice now, Papyrus' use of volume and pitch was significantly louder and more startling than yours. It was like flipping a switch; one minute there was a giant skeleton acting apologetic and quiet, and the next thing anyone knew that same skeleton was suddenly shouting at the top of his lungs and looking more enthusiastic than a dog receiving a treat.

The cat monster immediately reacted, stiffening his body and pinning his ears back over his head. Once again he was staring at you as though you were mad, though instead of smiling that nervous smile, he kept his face small with his mouth in a tight line, eyes forming wide circles and dilated exactly the way any startled cat would look if suddenly presented with a screaming skeleton. You started to feel embarrassed again, but the feeling was drowned out by the overwhelming want to slap your hand over your face in exasperation.

 **Oh, no! Human, did I do something wrong?** Papyrus realised as he sensed your upset, **Wait! Don't tell me! I've got it!** "I'm sorry! That was rude! I should introduce myself! My name is the Great Papyrus! What is your name?"

"Aha… ha… Yeah, no one calls me by my real name anymore…" the cat mumbled, his face somehow shrinking further even though his head remained the same size.

"So what do I call you then?"

The monster looked off to the side for a moment before eventually mumbling out "Burgerpants..."

"Wowie! That is such a unique name!" Papyrus grinned, genuinely thinking nothing of the ridiculous nickname as he tried to get the cat to smile, "And just within my syllable range too!"

"Yeah… great."

And just like that the cat reverted back to his strained and nervous smile.

Sighing, you prompted Papyrus to just spare both you and the oddly named Burgerpants from the awkward air hanging thickly around your heads.

 _Papyrus. Directions. You were going to ask for directions._

"Oh, yes, of course!" he suddenly yelled as his focus returned, again causing Burgerpants to twitch at his volume. "Mr. Burgerpant, I am looking for directions to the Barrier! Could you perhaps help me?"

"Uh, yeah. Just go through the MTT hotel and then the Core. After that just walk through New Home and you're there."

While the response seemed simple enough, Papyrus didn't seem particularly satisfied with it. In fact, he seemed downright unsettled by the suggestion.

"Actually I was kind of, sort of, hoping you knew a route _around_ the Core…" he mumbled hopefully, tapping the ends of his index fingers together innocently.

 _What's the Core?_ You asked curiously, surprised at the amount of discomfort he was displaying, _Oh, do you think that Sans might show up there somehow?_

 **Not necessarily…** Papyrus began nervously, **It's just-**

But before you could hear Papyrus finish his thought, Burgerpants was already nodding and responding, "Oh yeah, buddy, I totally get you. That place gives me the heebie jeebies! The paths all move around for no reason and it's full of lasers and junk. I mean, puzzles are one thing, but booby traps are even worse! Not to mention they're unpredictable sometimes!"

"Yes! Yes! That is exactly it!" Papyrus nodded vigorously in agreement, "Everytime I get near that place or hear the name or think about it I get heebies and jeebies all over! It just feels _weird_!"

"Well, I guess you're in luck! 'Cause I miiiight know a certain employee pathway that leads around the perimeter of that thing. We kinda still have to go to the MTT hotel though..."

"Oh boy! The MTT hotel! I can't wait!"

That was true. Unlike the unease that the Core created, the mention of that MTT place had Papyrus nearly bubbling over with excitement. You carefully prodded at the emotions to warn the joyous skeleton to hold back a little, for your sake at least.

"... Ha. Buddy, you've got a pretty naive innocence to you. I guess I could share a few tips and secrets with a guy like you. I've got nothing better to do after all."

Having Burgerpants guide you wasn't too bad. Sure, he was kind of weird and liked to ramble on about pessimistic anecdotes; and sure, halfway through your trip he lit up a cigarette that smelled disgustingly sour; but he wasn't the worst guy to be stuck with. For one thing, his ramblings were actually a little bit useful in helping you learn about what the heck MTT stood for and why he disliked it.

Apparently that Mettaton guy Papyrus had once gushed over had been the owner of the hotel and all of its faculties. According to BP, the place was designed to lead in fans with its glitter and wonder, right before trapping them in a system of sparkles and chaos before they realised what a mistake they'd made.

Papyrus didn't seem to care about the cat's negative opinion, however, as he openly fawned over the admittedly tacky design of the place when you passed through. You, however, despite finding Burgerpants' ranting painfully similar to that of a pretentious college student, had to agree with his more bitter view of the building. Honestly, the plastic plants looked misplaced, the shiny gold tiles along the roof and floor were too gaudy, and the weird looking fountain in the middle of it all had sprayed water all over the glitter-filled carpet. It would have looked pretty bad even during business hours, but it looked even worse closed up; all shuttered and locked with the lights out. You couldn't understand how Papyrus could look at the place and not feel at least a little creeped out.

Once Burgerpants had unlocked the front door and led you to a single elevator off to the side, he casually revealed that he'd been an employee in the MTT fast food joint.

"I mean, I didn't really like the job. Seriously. _At all_ ," he shrugged, tossing the butt of his cigarette back in the direction of the fountain, where it disappeared with a soft _splish_ , "But a paycheck is a paycheck, y'know? I mean _jeez_ , I thought finding work was hard _before_ everything went south. Guess that's just my luck."

"Wowie! I think you're really cool to have worked for Mettaton!" Papyrus practically squeed, eye sockets purposefully shining to show his admiration. Even through some of BP's most boring rants, Papyrus had been both attentive and responsive, eagerly hanging off of every word said to him. "I can't imagine how amazingly amazing that must have been!"

Burgerpants merely lit another cigarette and smirked, "Oh man, buddy… Wish I had your kind of enthusiasm. But hey, I was a Mettaton fan once, too. I'll admit, it really _was_ pretty cool to me at first. Heck, I even kind of miss this whole disaster now that the high and mighty rust-bucket's gone. Jeez, never thought I'd say _that_."

The casual statement made Papyrus stop in his tracks. From your front row seat you felt the exact instant his mood plummeted deep into the territory of mourning and denial. The sudden shift distracted the two of you so thoroughly that you didn't even notice when the elevator arrived with a tiny _ding_.

As he boarded the lift, BP turned back to see you staring sadly at your feet.

"Hey, c'mon buddy. I might still have a special access card, but even I can't hold this elevator forever."

"Is that true? That Mettaton… and, um, everything…?"

Blinking, the cat tilted his head and blew out a puff of smoke.

"What? Y'mean how he's pretty much dead? Don't know how you wouldn't know that, but I won't judge. So yeah, the bucket kicked the bucket. But he was a robot y'know? Someone smart could probably make another one. Maybe they could even program in some more courtesy towards their workers... Now quick, hop on!"

"So you mean that Mettaton could be alright?" Papyrus asked hopefully as he darted into the elevator, "I mean, if building a new robot from scratch is so easy, then repairing one must be even easier!"

"Uh, I wouldn't know about that, buddy," BP sighed as he took another drag of his cigarette, filling the lift with sour smoke (which you were almost certain must have been some kind of safety hazard or something), "The only monster who knew anything about Mettaton's code was that Royal Scientist lady. Er, Alphys, I think her name was. Jeez, I'm trying to remember what happened to her…" For a moment, Burgerpants paused, removing his cigarette and scratching behind his ears as though deep in thought. You almost missed when he shot a quick, pitying glance up at you.

"Y-y'know what? I only knew some people that she knew, not her specifically. I guess I just _can't remember_ what happened to her after everything went down. So, guess you'll, er, just... have to ask someone about that who isn't me, 'kay buddy? Haha..."

One of you nodded as the cat monster quickly averted his eyes from you and took a deep drag from his cigarette, burning it down to the butt in one go.

The elevator jerked once, before stopping and opening its doors to a level marked Employee Access Only. BP strolled calmly out of the lift as you trailed behind, nervously eyeing the area you had ended up in.

"This looks… _safe_ ," you mumbled sarcastically as you stepped out into the new area.

 **Really? Because I think it looks incredibly dangerous!**

Somehow the elevator had taken you to the perimeter of a giant machine. Thin metal gratings circled around the wall of the towering structure to form a path, giving a clear view of the magma boiling far below your feet. The machine beside you hummed ominously, creating an eerie orchestra of noise when combined with the bubbling lava and telltale screeching of expanding metal.

"Eh, I mean, yeah," BP shrugged, "but it's still a bit better than going through the Core. Just put yourself in my shoes. Could you imagine running through that place just to work a graveyard shift? Because I did once. Here's a tip for ya, buddy: you don't ever wanna do that! 'Cause your boss'll complain about the smell of singed fur infecting his emergency rose petals for the rest of the week…"

You quickly followed after the pessimistic cat as you eyed the creaking walkways beneath your feet. Papyrus easily reassured you that if any of the stabilizing wires broke or you slipped off, he would easily save you both with his powers. You believed him of course, but that didn't really ease the feeling of paranoia whenever you heard the machine beside you rumble and whine.

Desperately hoping for a distraction, you turned to Burgerpants. Papyrus usually did a lot of the talking when it came to other monsters; however, now that you were armed with wants and emotions again, you were feeling a bit more inclined to try and engage the cat in conversation.

"So, um, Burgerpants…?" you began, still not really wrapping your head around the name. BP seemed to bristle a little when you said it too, though he calmed down pretty easily and turned to you with a questioning hum.

"What were you doing out in Hotland? We were- Uh, _I_ was the only one out there."

It seemed like a sensible question to ask. After all, Waterfall, Hotland, and the MTT hotel seemed pretty thoroughly abandoned. Aside from Gerson, the only other signs of life you'd seen were all the way back in the direction of the Ruins and Snowdin.

"Well, funny story, actually," BP snickered, "There was this post that appeared on the Undernet a little while ago. It was this thing talking about some monster who managed to get a human Soul or something impossible, and they were on their way to break the barrier. It got shared around like crazy! Everyone and their Mom has totally fallen for it! Not that I actually believe it, of course."

Excitedly, Papyrus began to open his mouth to spill the beans, right before you slammed your jaw closed so hard that your skull rattled.

 _Papyrus, no! Bad idea! You can't just tell him!_ you scolded.

 **Actually, now that you're acting like yourself again, I don't understand why we should keep you a secret!** Papyrus argued. **If more people knew that you were in my head, then maybe you wouldn't feel so uncomfortable all the time!**

 _Oh… That's actually pretty nice of you. But I still think-!_

"I mean, c'mon!" Burgerpant's laugh cut through your thoughts, "Who's gonna believe that some kid _actually_ met a monster who just _happened_ to have a human Soul? They're, like, _eleven_. That's why I took on this bet that if I waited around in Hotland for a bit without finding this make-believe 'hero' everyone's freaking out over, then these guys I know would totally owe me 5000G!"

As BP smiled cockily to himself, Papyrus and you started to sweat.

… **We must never tell him.**

 _Glad we can agree._


	23. Barriers Between

There's nearly 12,000 words in this Chapter. But hey, this was never gonna be easy to write.

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* * *

"Finally! I can't believe we made it so far already! And it is all thanks to you, the wonderful star of MTT industries, Burger Pans!"

Unsurprisingly, Papyrus' rather overdramatic thanks fell on deaf ears. Thanks to BP's employee access card, the three of you made stunning progress on approaching the only place where the Barrier supposedly made clean contact with the Underground.

The cityscape surrounding the Barrier's location was apparently called New Home. It was a bit of a weird name, but made it made it feel a bit warmer somehow; like a painfully cliche welcoming sign hanging off the wall of an old couple's home. You'd taken a short trip through the less dense areas of the city when you entered it after using the MTT Core Roundabout Platform™ (Burgerpants had called it that exactly before spitting like he'd been forced to swallow a bar of soap) and it was actually pretty interesting. The buildings themselves had seemed a little bit dull and colourless as well as undeniably cramped, but it was still a beautiful and unique place containing plenty of classy marble pillars and impressive towers that reached all the way to the distant cave ceiling.

Unfortunately, a single glimpse was all you got before BP led you through some alleys to

another, more populated elevator. That had been the moment when you realised things were going to get tricky.

You probably should have paid more attention when your travelling companions had mentioned 'the City'- specifically MK's complaints about seemingly everyone moving there- because you had not been prepared for the amount of monsters you suddenly encountered.

It seemed that while Burgerpants had seen what was likely to be MK's post online and

dismissed it as a hoax, many more had chosen to take it seriously. You'd thought it nerve-wracking enough when you had to pass by other monsters at a distance at the city borders, desperately hoping that they wouldn't realise what the big, red 'package' under your arm really was- but that was before you reached the grey paths overlooking New Home and saw the road absolutely packed with monsters, all curious to see if that one particular post they'd read online was real or not.

There was a tension in the air, filled with chatter that ranged from hopeful excitement to

pessimistic dismissal. The closer you got to where the Barrier supposedly was, the thicker and more nervous the crowds seemed to get. It was honestly wearing your nerves down to frazzled little strings, and you subconsciously grasped tighter at your carefully wrapped body, hoping to every power in the known universe that no one would notice anything unusual about you and Papyrus. After all, if you were going to reach the place where the Barrier was located, you had no choice but to brave the crowds and pretend you were 'normal'.

"Haha… W-wow. Hard to believe this many people would get this excited over a post by some kid!" Burgerpants laughed, nervous sweat running off of his forehead like a waterfall. You nodded, feeling similarly anxious for vastly different reasons as you scanned over the gathered crowd.

There was such a wide variety of monsters that you were grateful to discover your presence was barely noticed. With just about every individual being entirely unique, even your seemingly giant, skeletal appearance was just another drop in the ocean. Being able to hide in plain sight was both a relief and a terror; you could easily pass through the crowds without calling attention to yourself, but not without the constant fear of being found out scratching at the back of your mind. Progress was slow, not only because of the density of the crowd or because of your nerves, but because you were actually left a little awestruck at the sight of such a gathering.

You'd only ever experienced a limit of about three monsters around you at any time, and so couldn't help but stare at the tightly packed groups as you passed them. A good number of monsters simply appeared to be casually dressed animals of different sizes, sometimes with technicoloured fur or fangs. Others appeared to be almost startlingly cartoonish in shape; seemingly taking on the form of child-friendly blobs or geometric shapes. Some seemed to consist of nothing but a singular element, such as fire, plants, or water. There were even 'traditional' looking monsters hanging about (traditional being in the sense of the creatures depicted in ancient human myths), and each was decorated with a number of horns, wings, talons, claws, and teeth.

In the end there was just too much variety for you to take it all in. Even Papyrus seemed a little nervous about it all- though if you hadn't gotten him to agree to keep you a secret for BP's sake, you had almost zero doubts that he would have thrown those nerves out the window to gleefully introduce himself to the swaths of patiently waiting monsters. You didn't even want to imagine how hectic and anxiety inducing such a thing would have been.

"Well, uh, I g-guess you're all excited for this kinda stuff too, huh buddy? You seem like s-such a hopeful guy, after all!" Burgerpants smiled up at you awkwardly as you gazed over the crowd again.

"Not too much..." you answered instead of Papyrus. _Obviously_ the skeleton was excited over the turn of events, though you had silently convinced him not tell BP that. Unlike with Monster Kid or Napstablook, both you and Papyrus had spoken to the cat monster in equal measure. It was actually somewhat of a relief to have the both of you be active and in sync when interacting with someone, and you didn't want to ruin that by scaring him away with an overly passionate answer. If you were going to have Burgerpants point the way to the Barrier then you would have to channel your more pessimistic side because (despite his odd turns in attitude) you honestly appreciated both his guidance _and_ his company.

"Oh really? Ha, guess you're actually kind of a sceptic too, huh?" BP snickered, somewhat reassured by your feigned disinterest on the matter, "Oh man. With all these people here it sure is gonna be a massive disappointment when no one shows up. But that's just life, isn't it? Innocent hope followed by a slow and lingering dose of cruel, cruel reality."

If you had eyes they would be rolling in your skull at the cat's efforts to sound world-wise. You kept your mouth shut as you looked over the crowded grey paths, finally coming to realise just what exactly you had promised that small yellow monster back in Hotland. To think that so many people would gather because of a singular post online... And one made by a self-admitted child no less! Either monsters were even stranger than you'd observed so far, or they were truly that desperate to reach the surface.

 _Well, I guess it's too late to head back now, huh?_ you hummed, wishing you had lips to worry at while you tried to pick out a path forward. Admittedly, while your height did help you to scan the area, due to there being so many monsters of different sizes hanging around you were scared of accidentally stepping on someone much smaller than you.

 **There are so many people!** Papyrus stared in awe, enjoying the sights more than analysing them like you were, **And they all came to see me! Well, us- but you don't want anyone to know you're here for some reason.**

 _It's not 'for some reason',_ you mentally chided the skeleton, _It's 'for a good reason'. I think you keep forgetting that most monsters don't actually like humans!_

Shaking your head only the slightest bit, Papyrus scoffed light-heartedly, **Nonsense! You're**

 **one of the nicest humans I've ever met! That makes you tied for first place since I**

 **only know one other human! I think that if you let more monsters get to know you, you would be pleasantly surprised at the friendships you could make!**

 _Did you not hear the things Monster Kid said about humans? He was convinced that humanity is irredeemably evil. That kind of thinking doesn't just spring out of nowhere, Papyrus! He's obviously not the only monster to believe that. If that kid acted so hostile when he didn't know I was there, how do you think things would have gone if he DID?_

 **Well obviously he would have seen how nice you are and realised the error of his ways!**

… _Burgerpants is right next to us. You can't tell anyone who we are or that I'm here without ruining his day._

You sighed from both guilt and relief as Papyrus reluctantly gave in to your reasoning. It was a cheap shot to use BP's bet as an excuse to keep Papyrus' mouth shut, but there was no other way you could get the optimistic skeleton on your side.

Papyrus always expected the best out of every situation, while you would usually predict something more neutral or potentially worse. In the case of revealing that the tall skeleton had a human hanging around in his skull, the worst case scenario would probably be the gathered monsters turning against him. Being pretty much dead center in the road only made that fear worse, as you knew if anything went wrong you probably wouldn't be able to escape the clutches of the large crowd.

You really didn't want to think about such dark things, but your paranoid mind wouldn't let you cheat your way around considering the possibility. It was hard to express your thoughts to Papyrus, mostly because- ever the optimist- he didn't seem to understand the basis of your worries. It was annoying (and more than a little concerning) how you kept reaching impasses when it came to such topics, considering the existence of your emotions were entirely dependant on you two being on the same page. Sure, the whole thing about your emotions being desynchronised was still just a theory, but you didn't want to risk becoming that despondent version of yourself again. It just seemed irresponsible to allow yourself to fall through the cracks like that, potentially risking damage to yourself and scaring Papyrus once more in the process.

… Still, you were a bit jealous.

Why were you the only one to get punished whenever Papyrus couldn't process that anxiety was an actual thing? More and more you felt as though you were bending over backwards just to stop the gap between you both from widening and pulling you down. Every other second you were convincing him of things that you two either should or shouldn't do and (despite his merciful tendency to agree with your demands) it was becoming more than a little frustrating. There wasn't much that could be done about it though. It might have seemed unfair, but expecting the jovial skeleton to suddenly start thinking the same paranoid thoughts as you was stupid at best.

 _Let's just get through here already._

"Hey, do you think we could get through this crowd?" you asked the orange feline at your side.

BP hummed, eyeing the gathered monsters as he scratched his chin. You'd asked him as you were exiting the shortcut around the Core if he would join you in walking to the Barrier and he'd thankfully agreed. Since he'd already popped into Hotland on account of his bet (it was only for a little bit, sure, but the bet had never clarified just how long the cat monster had to stay there and search for the Soul-possessing monster mentioned online), Burgerpants had plenty of time on his hands. He was more than happy to walk you right up to the front door of the magical seal that had trapped his kind- so long as he was allowed to talk your metaphorical ears off. The guy needed to vent, and he'd needed it badly.

"Hard to say, buddy," he shrugged, reaching for another cigarette, "Normally you'd be able to skip the path with the elevator back there. I guess someone went and deactivated it for some reason. But hey, with your height I'll bet that you could 'convince' a few people to move out of the way! Then we could get a good peek at what's going on."

Carefully, the two (technically, three) of you began shuffle your way through the surrounding monsters. Due to the strange fluidity of his body, BP managed to slip through a good deal of the crowd unhindered, only pulling back behind you when he encountered anyone much larger than himself. While Papyrus' lanky body certainly offered you some extra dexterity, you had to take things a bit slower as you had to be very careful not to let your concealed body knock into anything or vice versa. Thankfully, since carrying around random objects seemed to be a common monster habit (some of them dragging about the unusual choices of gifts, soap, rocks, or even _weapons_ ), no one stopped to question you on the object wrapped within your scarf.

You'd quickly worked out that both of you and Papyrus could control his body in tandem, meaning that while you were busy navigating your way towards where BP had gestured where the Barrier was, Papyrus could gaze excitedly around the area. By having the blissfully naive monster at the forefront of your minds, your nerves were somewhat calmed. His genuine wonder and curiosity made the two of you appear much more natural than you could have managed as you passed by the nervous and excitable groups of monsters.

"I just don't think it's real! I mean, _really_? Some monster grabs a Soul and it takes some random kid to tell everyone what happened?"

"Don't just say that. You don't know what's true or not until it's proved."

" _Pfft_. What would you do if you suddenly had a human Soul anyway?"

"I'd brag about it, obviously!"

"And that's why _you're_ not a hero! Someone like that shouldn't brag. The King never bragged about stuff when he was around, and he was wonderful!"

"... Was he? Now that I think about it, didn't the King have at least six human Souls hidden away before they all disappeared? If all it took to free us was _one_ monster absorbing _one_ human Soul to cross the barrier and break it, then maybe he wasn't that wonderful after all."

"You shut your beak! Asgore was a great monster and a kind king! If he didn't absorb the Souls to cross and break the Barrier back then, then he must have had a good reason for it!"

"They're right. And hey, why are you even here if you think this whole thing's a hoax anyway?"

"W-what? I'm not-!"

"Just admit that you're kind of hoping it's true! We all want to see the sky someday, and maybe that day could be today…"

You couldn't help but feel curious as you passed the conversing monsters. Eavesdropping was practically impossible to avoid with so many people around (even if you didn't like it), but what you had picked up was interesting. At the mention of Asgore, you were reminded of some of the sparse details Papyrus had shared with you the previous day. As far as you knew Asgore was a monster who had ruled the Underground and quite possibly 'served tea' to his human guests. You didn't know if you could believe that however, as Papyrus had also been convinced that many of his idols had 'gone on vacation', so it was hard to tell if any information passed on by him had been creatively censored at some point.

Regardless of that, the way the monsters had talked about their king made it sound as if he had gone somewhere. Considering the fates that had apparently befallen the head of the Royal Guard and the Underground's most prominent entertainer, you felt unfortunately confident in the assumption that the guy had probably been long dead by the time you fell. The weird thing was that despite apparently having six whole Souls at his disposal, the King hadn't absorbed any in order to break the Barrier. If that was true, you couldn't help but wonder why he had made that odd choice...

No. Now wasn't the time to second guess yourself. You'd pretty much given your word that you would help monsterkind. It would be cruel to simply decide to do nothing after travelling so far and knowing there was an entire race waiting on you. With both a human and monster Soul, you and Papyrus would cross the Barrier, find a way to break it and then… do something. You honestly hadn't thought that far ahead yet, but you had both agreed that you would finally allow yourselves to seek out Toriel and Sans once everything was said and done.

Mustering up your will, you pretty much tiptoed over most of the crowd, occasionally weaving

around larger monsters who were very nearly equal to your own size. As you followed BP's lead, you found yourself quickly and confidently progressing forward. Soon the monsters began to thin out as you reached a more enclosed area, allowing you to walk without the fear of accidentally squashing anyone beneath your boots.

 **Hmm? This area is familiar! I feel like I've been here before!**

Glancing at the grey brick walls, you couldn't help but think Papyrus was right. Though a few

unfamiliar monsters were resting against the walls, something about the place seemed to itch at your memory. Walking forward revealed that the new area eventually panned out, leading to the monochrome entryway of-

 _Is that… Toriel's house?_

The building before you was practically identical to the kindy woman's home in the Ruins. Aside from the fact that it was drained of colour like a faded dream, every brick, chip, and pebble on the path leading up to it seemed exactly the same.

 **GASP! You are right! What a twist that we would end up in a place mirroring where our**

 **journey first began! How suitably dramatic!**

 _Right…_ you hummed as you carefully approached the house, making sure that no one was

paying attention to you as you did. Honestly, while it was indeed dramatic, looking at the house only served to remind you that Toriel was probably worrying herself sick all the way back at the beginning of the Underground. And that made you feel pretty guilty.

"Welp, buddy," Burgerpants suddenly piped up beside you, "that up there must be the King's house. Past that is probably the hall and the throne or something. Then I think if we go a little further we'll probably find ourselves at the Barrier." The cat chuckled as you stared blankly at the path ahead, flicking yet another of his seemingly endless supply of cigarettes onto the ground. "I never seen it myself, but there's not much stopping us from taking a peek at it now; what with the King being gone and all."

Not even bothering to fish out another pack of smokes, BP waltzed calmly up to the front door of what was apparently the late King's house. It was weird to think that the monster who once ruled the Underground lived in a house exactly like Toriel's... only somehow colder.

 **Hmm. Doesn't this place give you the weirdest sense of deja vu?** Papyrus hummed in thought as you followed after the orange monster in front of you, **It feels like once we pass this threshold something world-shattering will happen!**

 _Please, don't say those kinds of things!_ you begged silently as you reached the door, _I'm not really getting the whole 'deja vu' thing, but this is still making me really-_

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!"

Very suddenly BP jumped away from the door of the monochrome house, knocking into you slightly in his haste to back up. You grabbed him by one shoulder out of reflex, trying to keep him steady while searching desperately for whatever danger had made him suddenly start screaming.

Burgerpants was staring in terror at the door that led into the King's home. As you followed his gaze you spotted something squirming under the door handle. A fuzzy blackness started to twitch and writhe below the silver knob before separating and crawling on top of the handle to eye you carefully.

"Oh! That was very scary!" Papyrus suddenly declared aloud as at least a dozen tiny spiders glared up at you, "We could have hurt those poor spiders! It was a good thing you reacted so fast!"

It seemed as though BP couldn't take the compliment on board, however, as he was far too busy internally screaming.

Thankfully you remained calm as the spiders ran busily around the top of the handle and began… writing something? You hadn't guessed as much at first, but it finally clicked that the fuzzy little arachnids were probably more monsters. They didn't seem to look a lot like regular spiders after all; just small balls of fuzz with several thin legs poking out from somewhere within. They worked together to pull a thin sheet of shiny white board out from under the doorframe, one of the spiders deftly wielding a large marker as it crawled along the smooth surface. Once they had finished moving, the spiders held their makeshift sign aloft so that you could read it.

YOU WANT TO GO IN? it asked.

"Yes please!" Papyrus smiled and nodded brightly as soon as you'd both read the words.

"Y-yeah. What he said." Burgerpants mumbled, still acting cautious and clinging onto his right hand like it had been burned.

The spiders seemed to look at each other for a moment before the one with the pen crawled

back onto the board again. The group holding the sheet swayed as the words were thoroughly wiped away by a fuzzy body and replaced with a new note.

ARE YOU THE ONE?

The one-? Oh. Oh no.

"What? You mean the mystery monster that everyone's waiting for?" Burgerpants asked, his response taking on an almost scoffing tone, "Pfft, nah. We just wanna take a peek at the Barrier is all."

You nodded along with the reply automatically. Both you and Papyrus knew that you were technically 'the one' (which was a title that made the skeleton puff up in ridiculous self-pride); however, you could not let anyone know that. In Papyrus' case he simply didn't want to make BP feel bad about losing his bet, meanwhile your paranoia was just too strong for you to allow any of the gathered monsters to know about you.

Once again the spiders were scuttling around, erasing their message and replacing it with a new one.

NO ENTRY.

"What!?" Papyrus yelled in disappointment, making BP cringe at his volume, "But why not?"

"Calm down buddy, I think I know what's going on here."

Taking a breath, BP took a tiny, tentative step towards the arachnid-covered door.

"Soooo, let me guess... there's a toll?" he questioned with a displeased look.

Surprisingly the spiders actually nodded in response, causing several more to descend from the ceiling with a basket and a pre-written note taped to its front.

PASSAGE THROUGH THE KING'S HOUSE, ONLY 9999g. 100% DISCOUNT FOR ALL BARRIER BREAKERS!

"Are you kidding me!?" Burgerpants yelled as he read the sign, his face contorting into one of complete disgust, "That's practically highway robbery! No one's gonna pay that much just to get through some empty old home! This is even worse than your Hotland setup was!"

Irritated, several of the spiders raised their front legs and hissed at the outraged monster, causing him to yelp and take several steps back. Recovering none too gracefully from the scare, BP spat back at them, though he didn't escalate things any further than that.

"Well, I guess it can't be helped," he suddenly shrugged and started to wander away.

"W-wait! Where are you going?"

Again it was hard to tell whether you or Papyrus was asking the question as you swiftly blocked off the calmly retreating monster. BP stared up at you curiously as he scratched behind one of his ears and answered, "Sorry buddy, but I'm going home. It's been nice hanging out but it's really been a loooong day for me. Hey, why don't you head on back with me? I know you didn't get a peek at the Barrier like you wanted, but we could hang out somewhere else. There's just not as much happening here as I thought there'd be."

"But we can't give up now!" you countered, and you knew for sure that it was Papyrus speaking this time, "We came so far to get pas- _see_ the Barrier! Isn't there another way forward?"

"Nope." The cat shrugged nonchalantly as he gestured back at the door, "Sorry my good buddy, but once the spiders have set up a checkpoint you can either pay their fee or become their next hit recipe. 'Sides, it's not that important that you get a look in at the Barrier today. It'll still be there tomorrow and the day after that. And the day after that and the day after that..."

Burgerpants took a moment to sigh and pull out another cigarette, lighting it with a tired look in his eyes.

"Trust me, there'll be plenty of opportunities to check it out once all the excitement dies down. It's getting pretty late anyway. At least we both managed to burn up some time out here."

You couldn't help but share Papurus' slight frustration and disappointment as you looked forlornly back at the house. There was no way forward other than that doorway, but you couldn't get past the spiders without calling attention to yourself. Even with the bulk of the crowd behind you, you didn't want to spark anything that might send them into an excitable frenzy. If that happened, things might get a little bit out of control.

Perhaps it was time to take a step back and think up a new strategy. You could probably follow BP's advice and wait until the crowds curiosity faded away. That would likely take some time though. Even if the cat had mentioned it was getting late (how he could tell, you actually weren't certain), you didn't know if that guaranteed the crowds dispersal. It also didn't guarantee that the spiders would leave their position on the door handle, since you could see they had already set up fine webs in the corners of the cave above the house. They were expecting heavy traffic in the area and were fully prepared to capitalise on it, for whatever reasons a spider might want to raise money.

Still, with your and Papyrus' limited knowledge and resources, waiting seemed like your best

bet.

Just as you were beginning to walk away from the group of spiders with BP, the door suddenly opened.

"Hey, dun worry about it. The tall one's with me."

If Papyrus had a heart somewhere in his ribs you were certain it would have stopped dead from shock as you watched Sans casually lean out of the doorway and wink at the startled

arachnids.

Everything in the tall skeleton's head seemed to come screeching to a halt as soon

as he saw his brother. From what he'd told you, bumping unexpectedly into Sans was basically his worst case scenario come true. Even after all of his secrecy and running around, Papyrus didn't yet have anything impressive to show for it. If he allowed himself to be cornered before he'd done anything of note, then he was certain that Sans would only end up disappointed and stressed.

To be honest you weren't doing much better at dealing with the reveal. Sure, you'd thought pretty seriously about calling it quits and just going back to the Ruins a few times, but you hadn't counted on being caught _before_ that. If you'd just turned back on your own terms then any ensuing discussions would have been easier to control. But being cornered in New Home was different. You were caught off guard; trapped between the crowd of monsters behind you and the small skeleton in front of you. Beforehand, you'd had the chance to take the initiative and show both Toriel and Sans that you were willing to talk things out; but now, in your current situation, that was impossible. As far as Sans could possibly know, both you and Papyrus had been _deliberately_ running away from him and Toriel.

Considering Papyrus' motivations, that was technically true.

"Huh? Wha- What's going on?" Burgerpant mumbled beside you, unintentionally breaking you and Papyrus out of your sudden bout of panic. The cat monster was staring at Sans in shock, his lit cigarette threatening to fall out of his mouth as his eyes darted between you and the skeleton in the doorway.

"Well? Don't ya wanna come in?" Sans asked, completely ignoring the other monster's inquiry.

You squirmed under the intense gaze that Papyrus' brother had fixed on you, both of you searching desperately for a quick retreat. How had he even gotten ahead of you? You didn't know and Papyrus was panicking too hard to give any answers.

"O-oh my goodness! I just remembered that I dropped something back in the crowd!" Papyrus suddenly yelled, readying himself to sprint full speed back the way you'd come, "I'll just have to go back and-"

"Don't worry about it," Sans continued to look up at you unflinchingly. Not even a hint of what he could've been feeling was present on his face. To the average onlooker he was completely at ease, speaking to his brother as if nothing was wrong. "Whatever it was it can probably wait, right?"

"U-um, I'm not s-so sure…"

"Seriously, what's happening? Aren't you the guy who judges-?"

BP's questions were once again ignored as Sans turned back to the spiders, gesturing at you as he simply said "We'll be inside for a bit, if ya don't mind."

There was no room for argument in his casual declaration as he looked at you again, pinning you in place with his piercing little eye lights. It was very clear that he was not going to let you escape without without making a scene- something which none of you truly wanted. The spiders seemed to communicate between themselves for a bit before they scuttled wordlessly away, allowing Sans to open the door fully for you.

"Well? You wanna come in?"

 _No._

 **Not really!**

"Wait, b-buddy, what are you-?"

Despite the fact that neither you nor Papyrus wanted to follow Sans into the house, you both

knew that you probably wouldn't be able to wiggle your way out of it. Reluctantly, the two of you stepped through the door, carefully avoiding eye contact with everyone around you. Your body stiffened as the door closed after you, cutting off any sounds of the monsters outside, including the horribly confused Burgerpants who'd been swiftly left behind.

Both of you braced yourselves for whatever would happen next. You didn't know what Sans'

reaction was going to be, and you were both dreading it for various reasons.

However, nothing was said as Sans started to walk wordlessly down to the end of the hall.

You peeked over at him as he stopped at the last door in the rightmost hallway. If the house you were in was truly identical to Toriel's, then the door he stood in front of would lead to the room the goat woman had renovated for Papyrus and Sans to share a few days after your unexpected arrival.

Your hesitant steps echoed through the empty house as you followed after the shorter skeleton. The two of you couldn't help but duck your head as Sans glanced up at you. You felt like a child about to receive a serious scolding; maybe worse, considering the circumstances. For a tense second he simply stared at you with an unreadable expression before finally reaching up and wordlessly opening the door.

The room you stepped into was nowhere near what you had expected. You hadn't actually

ventured into Sans and Papyrus' room yourself, but you were certain it didn't look like a giant

golden hall filled with towering marble pillars. Dust motes hovered about in the streams of light which filtered through towering stained glass windows. Everything from the arched stone ceiling to the smooth, polished finish of the marble floors just screamed ancient cathedral. It was actually quite breathtaking, with an air of solemnity and powerful silence to it. You couldn't help but stare in quiet awe as you stood in the middle of the hall.

"'S a bit more private here," Sans finally said as he turned back to you, and both you and Papyrus

jumped as his voice echoed grimly off the walls, "I thought… maybe we can just talk a bit?"

The sudden turn in the skeleton's tone confused you and worried Papyrus. It almost sounded as though Sans was asking for permission to talk. As if _he_ was the one who'd done something wrong and was awaiting _your_ judgement. You had expected to be punished or something, but Sans just looked… well, you'd never been the best at guessing his emotions, but you were willing to go with empty and drawn. He just seemed so sad despite his grin. Even the lines under his sockets appeared deeper and his eye lights had dimmed. It almost looked as though someone had reached into him and sucked out what little energy he had, transforming what should have been a lazy and calm demeanor into one of complete and utter exhaustion.

As you stared at the shorter monster in uncertainty, Sans shuffled his slippered feet against the floor.

"You, uh, g-got a lot taller, huh?" he mumbled, staring up at you both with sad eyes. You

couldn't help but notice how his grin twitched as he tried to look at your face- no. No, he wasn't looking at you... that look was only for his brother. You were just- You weren't supposed to be-

"Um, yes… I did," Papyrus finally responded, looking down at the other with worry.

The silence that stretched through the hall was painful as the two alternated between glancing at each other and the floor. Papyrus' mind was clamouring for something to say, hovering

somewhere between the lines of sadness and outright panic.

 **W-what do I do? Human! Help!** he silently begged. But you didn't have an answer for him. You were just as lost and anxious as he was.

 _I don't know what to do..._ you thought, not even really intending it as a reply as you stared numbly at the floor.

You'd never thought that _Papyrus_ of all people would run out of things to say, but it was certainly justified. Technically there were many things that needed to be said and you both knew it, it was just... finding the right words was proving difficult.

Thankfully, before either of you could do or say something stupid, Sans decided to mercifully bite the bullet and speak first.

"... I'm sorry."

That… was _not_ what you'd been expecting to hear.

"I'm not mad. 'm sorry if I- I didn't mean to scare you away or anythin'. I just... I know it's not your fault, Paps! The rock told me 'n Tori everything and- I mean there was the kid and the ghost too but- I-I went looking for ya everywhere, but you weren't- I didn't mean to- _Please_ just-!"

The more he spoke, the more Sans seemed to choke up as he stood below you. He couldn't

even look up at his brother as he desperately tried to hold himself together, stuttering out whatever he could manage. It was heartbreaking to see.

Immediately you dropped to your knees- by Papyrus' will, not yours- and before you knew it you had become an awkward third wheel in a hug that you really should _not_ have been a part of.

Sans froze for only a second before he returned his brother's hug in full force. He buried his

head into Papyrus' chestplate and gripped hard onto whatever he could fit his arms around. The rest of his body simply went limp, only the occasional rattle passing through it as he shook silently. It was sweet and touching and sad all at the same time- and you couldn't help but feel that you were probably ruining it.

You quickly tried to distance yourself from the event, trying as hard as you could to withdraw

from the intimate moment without distracting Papyrus. The hug, the tremors, the apologies- none of them were for you and you knew it. You just didn't belong in the close family reunion that was unfolding before you. It felt like an invasion of privacy to be so close to the brothers when you barely even talked to one of them.

You knew they needed their moment; no interruptions, no excuses. So you forced yourself to withdraw. Papyrus didn't even notice as your presence suddenly vanished from his mind.

"D-don't be upset, brother!" Papyrus desperately tried to cheer up the shaking monster in his

arms, "It's okay!"

But Sans only buried his face more into his brother's scarf, barely keeping himself upright as he leaned heavily against the kneeling skeleton.

"'S not. 'S not alright..." he mumbled repeatedly into the red fabric, "'S 'bout as far from right as we can get..."

Just as Papyrus was about to say something comforting, Sans looked up and stared up at his face like it was the first time he was seeing him.

"Pap… Jeez, look at ya. You're all…" he trailed off as he just stared at his brother, eyes trailing from the hood covering Papyrus' head, to the odd eye markings, and all the way down to his new fangs.

"I-I'm not that different!" Papyrus quickly countered, "Despite the physical changes I've retained all my natural charms!"

"Heh… yeah. Yeah you have."

Cautiously, Sans looked deep into his brother in his new, single, shining white eye, his own lights wobbling at the sight of it.

"B-bro… Why didn't ya just come back? We coulda… coulda sorted this out together."

"I, er, j-just had… stuff… to do?"

Sans increased his grip on Papyrus' chestplate little more and sighed, "I heard. Everybody's heard. I... I th-thought I was too late."

Silence fell once again between the two as Papyrus continued to kneel awkwardly on the

ground while his brother remained standing, face pressed into his chest. Neither of them were quite ready to broach any of the darker subjects that were looming over their heads. But it had to be done. Knowing that Sans had already taken a big step by trying to talk things out in the first place, Papyrus slowly began to speak.

"I'm really sorry," he began quietly, causing another shuddering sigh to silently escape his brother, "When we were preparing to go out for the day this was _not_ the train of events I had in mind! I just... didn't want you to worry."

"Heh. I've done nothin' but worry since I realised you were gone..." Sans mumbled, keeping his face hidden, "I know it's not your fault. Nothin' could ever be your fault."

Papyrus sagged a little bit as he suddenly realised that his your earlier words had been true. His brother had been terribly worried about him because he had run off to solve everything on his own. Oh, if only he'd managed to break the Barrier before Sans had found him! Surely such a spectacular feat would have lifted the other skeleton's spirits tenfold! After all, how could his brother have time to worry about anything when he was free to look at a sky full of things like stars and clouds and ast-roh-nots? With such an achievement under his belt, caving and getting Toriel to fix their human friend wouldn't have left room for his brother to fret needlessly.

"Just... dun worry 'bout it, Paps," Sans sighed deeply, patting Papyrus on the back limply as he pulled away, "Let's just forget about this and go home. Everyone'll calm down eventually. I'll just... sort it all out for ya."

"W-wait!" Papyrus shouted, flinching as his voice echoed around the hall and raced back to him, "I haven't even- I came here to-!"

"Break the Barrier?" Sans asked, his eyebrows creased even as his dead smile remained pinned in place, "I'm sorry... I know no one probably told ya, but the other six Souls that were here are gone. Somethin' broke the canisters. Guess they just... went wherever human Souls go when ya let 'em be."

Papyrus simply quirked an eyebrow, "What Souls? And what canisters do you mean? I just want to do something impressive enough to make everyone okay again!"

The naive words seemed to surprise Sans as he looked up at his brother with wide eyes.

"Y-you mean you came all this way and didn't even know you needed seven Souls to break the Barrier?" he asked, baffled.

"Wowie, a whole seven of them? I feel like I kind of already knew that somehow, but I guess I forgot! I'll just have to find some humans and ask really nicely if I could borrow their Souls!"

Sans stared at his brother in disbelief as the taller sibling smiled confidently. Normally he would have said something supportive to encourage Papyrus, but instead the taller monster was left to worry as his brother's eyes became even darker at his declaration.

"Bro... no..." Sans spoke quietly, almost in a whisper, "Ya don't get it. Taking a human's Soul is like gainin' EXP and LV from a monster... You'd have to..."

For a moment Papyrus stared at Sans' grim expression in confusion before he realised just what the other meant. Cruel reality set it's weight on top of him as he watched his brother shamefully turn his head downwards towards the floor. It seemed as though Papyrus was finally realising the weight of what he had promised. When Papyrus had made his promise to free monsterkind and encouraged you to do the same, both of you had been so focussed on what was required to _pass_ the barrier that you had completely forgotten what was needed to _break_ it.

A monster and a human Soul were all that was needed to escape the Underground; but to get rid of it entirely would require _seven_ human Souls. That meant that Papyrus and you would have to somehow obtain six more Souls. If what Sans was implying was as dark as it sounded, then the innocent idea of 'borrowing' Souls wasn't an option. Your own Soul had only been obtained after you had... died. By accident, of course! A-and you'd forgiven the poor skeleton for that slip up, hadn't you? Papyrus wasn't a bad guy! He would never badly hurt people or k- k-ki- … do _other_ bad things! To do... _such things_ on purpose was wrong, let alone do it six times over!

Suddenly, a thought occurred to the naive skeleton. If taking a human's Soul was similar to gaining LV... and seven Souls were needed to break the Barrier... and the King had obtained six human Souls in the past...

"Sans...?" Papyrus asked, uncharacteristically quiet, "Sans. Sans... The Royal Guard is tasked with collecting human Souls. Sans? Was Undyne-? Did she know? Sans, did Undyne know about the Soul thing?"

A heavy silence filled the hall. Sans' eyes had become completely empty as he stared at the floor. It seemed as though his skull was utterly vacant of not only expression but anything at all. For a moment Papyrus thought that perhaps his brother wouldn't answer him, though eventually an almost inaudible "yes" whispered it's way out of the skeleton's skull.

Papyrus gasped at the news, saddened at the idea that Undyne had been entirely prepared to do such a terrible things to gain a human Soul. She was always so tough and inspiring; had she really been so convinced that she had to hurt others to free monster kind? Maybe she'd felt as though she had no choice and was trying to save others from such horror. He could more easily accept the thought of his mentor only doing bad things because it spared anyone else from doing it themselves. She'd been caught in a bad situation! It was the only reasonable explanation! But if that was true, then...

"Is that why- I don't know if it's actually true, but many people have said that Undyne isn't… alive. They said the tiny human... k-killed her!"

Sans merely remained silent as his brother began to theorise aloud, "I don't know if I can believe it, but if Undyne actually had to... do _that_... to get a human Soul, then maybe it makes more sense? Maybe the human was just scared and acting in self-defence?"

A hollow chuckle echoed from his brother as Papyrus looked at him in concern.

Very suddenly, like a switch had been flipped on, Sans began to speak in a low and bitter tone.

"Paps... as much as I'd like you to believe that... 'S just not true. That human was- there was somethin' up with 'em, bro. I don't know why, but they only started killin' people once they got to Waterfall." The shorter of the two brothers shuddered at the memory, seemingly lost in his own head as he allowed the truth to spill from him. He didn't look up at Papyrus even once as he spoke, as though looking might stop him from being able to continue on. "They had some kind of strategy. They... Yeah... They killed Undyne. It's true. They also killed Mettaton. Got ol' King Asgore too. In fact, they wiped out everyone unfortunate enough to be 'round between here and the path outta Snowdin. We're so lucky... I'm so lucky... that they decided to spare the people that they did."

Sans shook his head slowly. Even with the echoing properties of the hall, it was hard to catch his whisper of "Maybe even too lucky for it to be a coincidence..."

Raising his voice back into a quiet growl, the skeletal monster continued on.

"The lil freak broke out of the Underground with well over twelve LV, and EXP to spare. I know you wanted to keep thinkin' of them as your friend... I- I even _let_ you think that. Dunno why I did after everythin' they'd done. I just went ahead and let you leave that message for 'em like it was no big deal. But now I- I realised when you ran off that I did wrong by ya. I shoulda just told you the truth so that you wouldn't go runnin' off into danger... gettin' yourself killed… just like everyone else did back then."

"Brother..." Papyrus trailed off, unsure of what to say to all the information that was suddenly being revealed to him. While a large part of him simply wanted to dismiss the depressing reveal, he couldn't possibly claim his brother was just pranking him this time. Sans would never make a joke in such bad taste, let alone with such a sombre and lifeless expression. In fact, the longer that Papyrus looked at his brother's face, the more the harsh truth dug his claws into his Soul. All along, his brother had been...

"I... I know this isn't the kind of thing you ever wanted to hear," Sans' mumbled voice echoed from somewhere deep inside his light-less skull, "I shoulda... I wanted to tell the truth. Eventually. I just... waited too long. I was bein' a coward. I... lied to ya, Paps."

Gross sniffling finally caused Sans to lift his head up to look at his brother's face. It seemed as though he had run out of things to say, or at least the will to say them. Papyrus was a mess of barely held back tears, staring down at his brother as though he was going to start bawling at any moment. Guilt was immediately apparent on the shorter skeleton's face as his smile began to twitch downwards at the corners just the slightest bit.

"D-... D-did you know about this... the whole time?" Papyrus choked out the words, holding onto his composure by the thinnest possible thread.

There was no response from Sans for the longest time. He simply watched his brother quiver with blank eyes. After a solid twenty-five seconds he finally nodded; a movement that was so small that it was almost as if he hadn't moved at all.

"I..." Sans whispered, looking away guiltily, "I messed up, bro. I wouldn't even blame you if you held it against m-"

"OH NO-HO-HO! MY POOR, DEAR BROTHER! THAT IS SO SA-A-AD!"

Sans' eyes suddenly returned to his sockets in surprise as Papyrus immediately hoisted him up and hugged him again. The second hug was so forceful that the smaller skeleton's slippered feet were left barely grazing the ground. With his head stuck over his brother's shoulder and his arms trapped at his sides, Sans could only offer a confused and hesitant pat with his fingers as Papyrus bawled his eyes out into his jacket.

"N-N-No wonder you have been so withdrawn! You knew about all of these horrible things the wh-whole time!? I can't imagine how saddening that must have been for you! If you had told me sooner I could have been more h-h-helpful to you!"

Wave after wave of sympathy tears flooded out of the skeleton's eye sockets as he sobbed. Knowing that the deaths of his role-models was true had been extremely depressing for the tall monster, but the reveal that his brother had been secretly carrying such crushing knowledge in his Soul for months was the final straw that broke his metaphorical heart. Papyrus couldn't help but to feel terrible that the same Sans who was supposed to be humorous and laid-back had been burdened with such a dreadful weight for _months_. How could he have been so foolish that he had not realised the pain his sibling was going through? What kind of brother was so ignorant to the emotions of his only family!?

"Oh my gosh! Does Toriel know about this? Did you talk with her?" The skeleton continued to wail as he squeezed his brother tight.

"I, uh... She kinda does?" Sans spoke from his position over Papyrus' shoulder, "We haven't really talked about it a lot. 'S a sour topic. Pap, you're... You're not even a lil upset that I lied to your face?"

" _Upset_!? Why would I be upset?" Papyrus yelled, standing the shorter skeleton in front of him again and gripping onto his shoulders tightly, "I mean, I _am_ upset, but I'm not upset at _you_. Sans, I can't blame you for being too sad to say anything! That would be ridiculous! I can only be upset at myself for not realising the cause of your depressing disposition sooner! I-If I had known you were s-suffering so m-much-!"

Another wave of tears cascaded dramatically down the skeleton's face as he looked over his brother, as though he was inspecting him for any physical damages from his emotional struggles. Sans simply stared back at him wide-eyed and completely awed. Obviously he had been expecting the worst once he revealed the truth, but Papyrus had the uncanny ability to subvert expectations and catch others off guard. He'd even admitted to _you_ that he was not entirely immune to being caught off guard by his brother's unique thinking- and suddenly, there he was, proving his own point like an idiot.

"Hey, c'mon bro, don't cry," Sans began to smile again, a weight seemingly having been lifted off of his shoulders, "It's fine. Let's just put it all behind us, okay? Someone as cool as you shouldn't have ta cry like this."

"A-are you sure?" Papyrus sniffled grossly.

"As a beach," Sans replied with a wink.

There was a moment where Papyrus furrowed his brows in confusion, followed by a rush of outrage as he abruptly stood up and glared down at his brother.

"Ugh, Sans! That was terrible! I don't understand how you can so consistently generate such awful jokes! We were supposed to be having a moment here!" He yelled loudly, stomping his boots, "Is there nothing you won't ruin with you incessant punning!?"

"Nope~"

"What an unfortunately expected answer! You should count yourself lucky that I chose to put up with your constant shenanigans!"

Despite the scolding, both brothers were smiling widely with relief. The dramatic encounter they had both been dreading had turned out to be little more than a desperately needed venting session. With a significant amount of the tension between the two having dissipated, the pair of skeletons had apparently been put at ease.

"... Uh, hate to bring this up, but we still gotta talk about the gift-wrapped elephant in the room..."

Suddenly brought back to earth by his brother's words, Papyrus' eyes trailed down to the half-unravelled corpse on the floor where he'd unknowingly left it after embracing his brother.

"Um, yes, of course! We need to do that!"

Both monsters shuffled awkwardly as they stared at the partially uncovered body. Papyrus scratched his chin as Sans shuffled his feet and stared, both trying their best to think of a course of action to solve-

Wait, hold up. Burgerpants just appeared in the hall. How did he get in? Weren't the spiders supposed to be guarding the door?

The nervous cat monster approached disbelievingly, causing Papyrus to panic as he realised that the body he'd been hiding from him _specifically_ had been discovered. As expected, BP's reaction was a bad one, and he immediately began to panic as the realization that he had lost 5000g finally sank in. You couldn't really hear what he was whining about yourself, but you were already wishing he would stop.

Papyrus tried his best to calm the cat's meltdown as Sans glared at the intrusion, seemingly unsure of how he could evict the intruding monster from the area without upsetting his brother.

Through the distancing haze around your mind, you vaguely recognised Papyrus' voice desperately searching for you, both calling for help and expressing panic over the fact he couldn't locate you for some reason.. You quickly searched for a solution for him, eager to get rid of the orange interruption so that the skeleton brothers could continue their important discussion. Distantly you remembered being handed monster coins as a reward for something and pushed a curt message into Papyrus' mind telling him to check your pockets.

Quickly he did so, fishing out three shining coins that you had obtained in the Ruins and dropping them quickly into Burgerpants' paws. The money could go toward his lost bet or something. It didn't really matter, so long as he went away. But the stupid cat didn't leave once he received the coins, instead he stared at them forlornly with a quivering lip while whimpering miserably, still standing around and ruining any chance for the two skeletons to continue talking.

Just as it seemed that Sans was about to shoo the sniffling monster away, more movement caught your eye.

Through the entrance into the hall stepped a few curious monsters, seemingly attracted by the commotion caused by the idiotic cat. Seriously? What were they even _doing_ there? Just how were Sans and Papyrus supposed to reunite properly if there were going to be so many interruptions? Were those spiders really that _useless_?

As soon as the monsters spotted your body lying half uncovered on the ground, all hell broke loose. The crowds quickly pushed forward and surrounded Papyrus, each one shouting questions and acting incredibly excitable. They had easily figured out that he was the one in possession of your Soul (considering it was _his_ scarf your corpse was still caught in) and were eager to show their support of him.

The tall skeleton tried his hardest to counter each question that was asked of him, trying to sneak himself backwards to escape from the gathered monster's attentions. The crowds were overwhelming him; not because he feared the fame, but because he felt it wasn't the time for such things. And he was right, it really _wasn't_ the time. It was _actually_ time for him to continue talking with his brother, and the many monsters who had spontaneously shown up were _ruining_ it.

Desperately looking around, Papyrus tried to locate his brother again. His height advantage helped him locate his significantly shorter brother as he was being pushed back by the excitable swaths of monsters. Not forgetting to pick up your body, the uncomfortable skeleton swiftly made his way over to Sans and pulled him out of the crowd by the upper arm, ignoring the over-enthusiastic press of the crowd as they got close to him.

In a moment where you thought that perhaps the intruding monsters would gather some sense and leave the brothers to get back to their private discussions, Sans suddenly started to sternly lecture the crowds in an effort to drive them away. He claimed that the hall was a place of sacred tradition and that only those given permission by the King were allowed to enter during a time of judgement. Whatever that meant. You just wanted everyone _gone_.

The crowds quieted down to a solemn murmur at the skeleton's words, considering the weight of them in whispers passed amongst themselves.

Then, from somewhere in the back, a voice yelled that the King was dead and what was left of the monarchy didn't speak for monsterkind, making Sans' point invalid.

The shouted declaration was followed by a collectively cheered agreement from the crowd and a sudden chant of "No ruler, No rules". Despite Sans' weak attempts to calm the gathered monsters down, it seemed as though they had no intention of stopping their mounting excitement over Papyrus' presence.

You couldn't believe what everything had spiralled into. Just mere moments ago, Papyrus and Sans had been talking things out in a calm and productive manner. You had been content to simply observe their conversation, allowing Papyrus' thoughts and feelings to wash passively over you as you remained dormant. Now _this_ was happening... and you felt _weird_.

Though you were overwhelmingly numb due to the distance between your mind and Papyrus', something was twisting in you as you tried to figure out a way to disperse the crowds. This wasn't how things were supposed to go. Nothing else mattered to you but your prior decision to allow the skeleton's privacy to discuss events between themselves. The brothers were supposed to be talking everything out everything without. Any. _Distractions_! Were the monsters really that stupid? Could they not see what they were _ruining_!? Even you had known to graciously distance yourself from them, allowing them the space to talk without your constant awkward presence echoing in Papyrus' skull.

The two needed their moment.

No interruptions.

 _No excuses._

Something was thrown in an arc over the crowd towards Sans. You didn't know if the object was made of matter or magic, but it was the final straw that caused you to snap.

In an instant you stood over the shorter skeleton and focussed all of your will into stopping the despicable projectile. The energy that you had grown used to swirling calmly through Papyrus' bones spiked as it travelled up your arm and concentrated itself in your free hand. With a speed that you hadn't known you were capable of, you struck at the object with your full force, shattering it into harmless shards on impact.

Suddenly, a veil was lifted from your mind.

"Oh my gosh, did you _see_ that!?"

"No way! That was so fast!"

"Soooo cool!"

"Is that the kind of power you can get from a human Soul?"

"Dude! That was _amazing_!"

 **H-Human? You came back again! And you finally used magic!**

Blinking in surprise at the sudden volume surrounding you, you looked down at your hand in time to see a large, startlingly pink bone dissipate from your palm. Had you really done that?

"What...?" you whispered to yourself as you stared at where the magical weapon had once manifested.

Something touched your arm and you jumped when you saw a bright-eyed monster staring at you in awe. You backed up in shock only to accidentally bump into another monster behind you. Very quickly you realised that you were pretty thoroughly trapped amidst the dense crowds; curious paws, claws and other strange appendages reaching curiously out to you from all angles and making you feel horribly uncomfortable.

Why were there so many people? You hadn't thought the crowds were so close just a second ago! And they were so loud too! Wh-what was happening? You were trapped!

"I can't believe it! It was actually _real_!"

"W-We'll finally be able to see the sky! I thought it would never happen!"

"Oh my goodness! This is actually happening, isn't it?"

You flinched away from every shout and movement around you. Everything suddenly seemed so much clearer, so much _sharper_ than it had only moments before. The crowds were too close for comfort. Your mind had been so thoroughly fogged over that you honestly had no idea what had just happened to you. You needed to get away and collect yourself!

Suddenly panicking, your eyes darted about to try and find an escape from the crushing crowd. However, instead of spying freedom, you managed to lock gazes with Sans.

Your whole body went rigid as you saw the dark look on his face. He was staring right at you; eyes dark and smile sharp, his completely still body making for a huge contrast to the bustling crowd. You duly noticed past your deep unease that he had actually moved himself out of the now destroyed projectile's range. Even if you hadn't suddenly decided to strike, his new position proved that he would have easily dodged whatever it was that had been tossed at him.

Somewhere beneath the commotion, you heard his voice. Deep and personal, it drifted underneath the excited chatter; a message meant for only you to hear.

"I knew you were in there somewhere," he near-whispered, locking you into a stare with his pitch-black sockets, "Both the ghost and the rock mentioned it. But the kid and Gerson never did. Isn't that strange? It's like you didn't want anyone to know you were there."

The subliminal tone carried by the skeleton's voice made you shiver internally. The noise of the crowd seemed to fade away as you listened to his words, as though each one was keeping you prisoner just to hear it being said. Was he suggesting...?

"You know," Sans continued, "I thought that after we talked the other night, you and I were gonna get along. But now I have to ask: Why does my bro suddenly have a strong urge to break the Barrier?"

Tilting his head down just the slightest bit, Sans' glare turned even deadlier and it felt as though he was gazing into your very Soul as he whispered his final threat:

"I don't know what you think you're doing, but you'd better get out of my brother's head right now... or else, pal... you're gonna have a **e**."

 _Oh god, oh god, he thinks it's all my fault! He's gonna attack me again!_

The threatening tone paired with the even more threatening stare from the skeleton monster shot through you like a bullet of cold fear. With your nerves already worn thin from the startling crowds, you were nowhere near prepared for the shorter of the skeleton duo to make such a vague, yet terrifying threat. Instantly, you retreated back into the depths of your mind, trying your best to cower away from the noise and the bodies and the monster staring you down. Yet you couldn't snap yourself back into the dispassionate daze that you had been in during the skeleton's conversation. The best you could do was fight away the fear and anxiety inside you by withdrawing yourself from control over your borrowed body.

In response to your shift back, Papyrus took the lead again. Just as soon as he had control, Sans' face and personality reverted back to normal. It was as though he thought that pretending he was the same old skeleton around his brother would actually fool the other, allowing the fact that he had just accused you of manipulating the taller monster to go unnoticed. But that wasn't how things worked between the two of you. Even if you'd had the majority of control during the moment when Sans had hissed his deadly words at you, Papyrus had still been present to hear them see the personality shift. That was why he was staring at his brother with such concern.

"... Again?" Papyrus muttered aloud, having caught your terrified thought as you fled into the safety of the back of your shared skull, "Brother… You attacked...? That doesn't make sense? Sans, do you really think that this was all the human's idea?"

Sans' eyes widened a fraction, as though he suddenly realised his mistake. Technically he had threatened his own brother, even though his words had been so obviously been meant for you. Perhaps he hadn't considered the full effect of his actions in the heat of the moment. Or perhaps he really _had_ believed you two to be separate enough for such a stunt to be pulled off unnoticed.

"Bro, I didn't mean to-"

"But it wasn't their idea," Papyrus continued with a furrowed brow, "If anything they argued with me about it the whole way. But I convinced them that we couldn't go back until we saw our promise through..."

"Wait, Paps, I-"

"I thought that if I did something noteworthy enough, you might break out of the weird spiral you've been caught in these last few months. I... decided to do this myself."

"You weren't supposed to-"

"Sans I... I thought we were making a lot of progress when you decided to tell me the truth... But do you actually intend to change, brother? Or are you just going to continue to hide yourself from me? I just wanted all the tension to go away..."

"..."

Disappointment flooded through Papyrus as he watched his brother stand silently amongst the crowd. While some of the emotion stemmed from the fact that Sans had proved with a handful of threatening words just how little their conversation had eased his mind; a majority of it was aimed at himself for not having done enough for his poor brother; once again displaying just how astonishingly incapable he was of figuring out not only how to mend his brother's dark mood, but when he was being fooled into thinking things were alright when they _weren't_.

Sans still wasn't happy. Papyrus hadn't yet done enough to _make_ him happy.

Despite the bustle and noise, everything seemed so quiet and insignificant compared to the pleading, yet guilty look on the shorter monster's face. Sans just needed his brother to believe in him, even though his expression betrayed the fact that he didn't feel like he fully deserved it. But while Papyrus certainly did believe in his brother, he also desperately wanted to pry the other out of his depressing shell so that they could approach normalcy again after so many months.

There had to be something- _anything_ \- that could be said to make things better.

Closing his eyes and clenching his fists, Papyrus drew a breath as he tried to find a way to express his swirling thoughts. Frustration coloured the corners of his mind as he grasped at anything that could possibly help him relieve his brother's secretive tendencies. Unfortunately, the concepts trying to form in his head were too complicated for the skeleton to understand and put into words. Even if you had been of the mind to help the poor monster sort out the abstract thoughts flitting about in his head, there was no way you would have understood them either. So, instead of wasting his time trying to do something that he didn't fully understand, Papyrus instead grit his teeth and did the next best thing he could think of.

"I- I am very sorry that you are in such a dark position that you would think an innocent person is doing the wrong thing," Papyrus began, barely even able to look his brother in the eyes, "But I- I can help you believe in that not everything is always bad! Even if it seems impossible, I-I'll do this if it makes you be the good, hopeful person you can be again!"

Suddenly realising where Papyrus' train of thought was taking him, Sans began to panic.

"W-wait! Bro, you don't have to do tha-"

"If it will ease the weight on your Soul and make you truly trust me, brother, I will break that Barrier no matter what!" the tall skeleton rashly declared, much to the surrounding crowd's pleasure.

"Don't-!"

Before anyone could stop him (or perhaps before he could stop himself), Papyrus suddenly leapt directly up and away from the crowd. Using what no doubt must have been his 'blue magic', the skeleton landed several feet away with a typically unnecessary flourish as he stood with his back to the gathered monsters. Startled gasps and amazed cheers sprung up behind you as you suddenly found yourself and the skeleton sprinting at top speed out of the hall and beyond. Not once did you pause or look back, even as you darted through several abandoned grey halls, through golden flowers and around sharp corners.

Not even when you finally arrived at the Barrier did Papyrus hesitate in his sprint. You could feel the weight of his thoughts and feelings as he steeled himself to achieve the impossible. Distantly, you realised you should have said something. You should have interrupted his racing thoughts and reminded him of the risks. But instead you sat useless and paralysed in your own mind, completely shocked at the breakneck speed with which everything had gone horribly wrong.

Papyrus was _determined_ to break the Barrier due to miscommunications with his brother- sparked by none other than you- and you did _nothing_ to stop him.

As you collided with the glowing wall that both you and Papyrus assumed to be the Barrier, only one thought was present in your mind:

 _What the hell have I done?_

* * *

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That panned out badly. Well... I mean... The Reader is supposed to represent you guys... and every second comment or review I got since the beginning of the second arc was constantly asking about Sans or wanting to see Sans' reaction. Like, did even one of you ask specifically about _Toriel_ _'s_ reaction? NOPE.

So... yeah. I guess this is _your_ fault.


	24. Fresh Air

Okay, First thing's first- this Chapter took a while to do and here are the reasons why

1\. I needed to make it clear exactly _why_ it is so difficult for Read and Papyrus to go back to the Underground even though they can pass through the Barrier whenever they want. Points to the user who pointed that out and helped me to make my point even stronger than I had originally written it! (critiques like that are sooo useful)

2\. I hit an apathy wall. It's pretty hard to write characters who are motivated by their emotions or lack thereof when you yourself are feeling emotionless.

3\. Someone asked for a clear description of Papyrus' new form. I am very bad at describing people. So bad that descriptors become very boring to me. However I moved a scene forward into this chapter so that you guys could get a better idea of what 1 Soul Pap looks like.

4\. I made a picture because of how bad I am at describing people. It's on my Tumblr paranoidpanther'spatterns!

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* * *

Stars shone brightly above you in the deep night sky, twinkling in every available corner except for within the faint glow of the far off city by the shore. Beneath them chirped the nightlife of the surface world. Each cricket, critter, and late night bird called out to accompany the humble display of lights far beyond their reach. The bright little balls were each millions of years of space travel away, and therefore glowed happily without a single thought about how completely shocked you were.

Mere moments after you passed effortlessly through the Barrier, you begun to panic. What the hell had just happened? Had Papyrus really done that? More importantly, why hadn't you stopped him?

Cold reality must have hit you at the same time as the night breeze, because Papyrus ended up tripping gracelessly as soon as you exited from the cliffside, limbs flying in every direction. He squeaked shrilly as he found himself unable to stand anymore, held down by the force of your own will which had so suddenly sprung up and neutralized you both.

 **Human? What are you doing?** Papyrus asked as the two of you flopped about, neither of you able to gain complete control over your limbs, **I- I can't move properly when you do that!**

 _I know! That's why I'm doing it!_ you replied angrily, taking possession of an arm and flinging it out to the side so that Papyrus couldn't lift himself upright.

 **But how are we supposed to break the Barrier if we are stuck flailing about on the ground? We can't fulfill our promise like this!** He wailed in confusion as you fell forward again.

 _No! YOU made that promise, Papyrus! Not me! And while I was too busy being confused and scared to stop you! How could you do that!? I thought after we broke down the first time we were going to put more effort into working together!_

 **I-! B-but you** _ **did**_ **promise to break the Barrier to the Monster Child! It's been our whole intention ever since then! Isn't that what working together is?**

 _No, it's not! Working together means making decisions together, and you just made a HUGE decision without me! And that's not even mentioning how bad of a decision it was, because now we're stuck out here!_

You felt the skeleton wince in hurt and confusion as your emotions began to rage unchecked. Immediately you felt bad for losing control and reined yourself back in. Papyrus was so childlike sometimes that getting him to understand you was difficult, but that didn't mean you could just recklessly lash out at him. Your anger was necessary to get your point across, but too much of it would only make your situation worse.

You sighed in frustration, but otherwise kept yourself in check as you prepared to explain the gravity of the situation to the naive monster.

 _Listen, Papyrus, I don't think you realise what you've done. You didn't just promise to break the Barrier to one kid, or even just your brother. You promised to Break the Barrier in front of hundreds of monsters! Do you know how they'll react if this turns out to be impossible? They'd riot. In fact, they'd probably turn on us for it. What if we can't safely go back to the Underground because of what you said?_

Now, there was obviously more to your situation than just that, but you figured cutting straight to the crux of the problem might make Papyrus understand you better. Thanks to his rash decision, you couldn't go back through the Barrier again without sparking something disastrous.

Everything else was at least manageable. The brother's misunderstanding? Pfft, easy. With how much the two skeletons seemed to care about each other, simple communication would solve that instantly. And what about Sans' out of nowhere accusation that you were plotting something vaguely malicious? Well, _you_ knew you weren't evil, so you just needed to prove that to him without freaking out.

But when it came to the entirety of the monster race trapped behind you, you _really_ didn't know what to do...

Even if you made excuses to investigate the the Barrier from inside the Underground, the dramatic exit Papyrus had made would likely cause a lot of questions if you ever lingered or doubled back. And if it turned out you couldn't break the Barrier... Well… A crowd couldn't be reasoned with the same way as an individual, and Sans' attempt in the hall had shown that. All it took was for one person to call foul and suddenly any gathering could transform into an angry, stone-throwing mob.

By publicly promising to break the Barrier, Papyrus had let everyone know who you were and what you looked like. You knew first hand from MK's actions how fast word could spread down there. Soon every monster in the Underground would know your bony face and have the same daunting expectations. There would be no place for retreat if you found yourself in trouble on the surface, or admitting defeat if breaking the Barrier turned out to be impossible. Stealth wouldn't be an option since you were stuck with Papyrus' distinct looks, both underground _and_ on the surface.

Completely stripped of the ability to backtrack without meeting resistance, you were feeling rightfully nervous about your situation. It was almost felt like you were more trapped now _outside_ the Barrier than you had ever been inside of it.

 **B-but, isn't this the right thing to do?** Sans is- **Everyone is counting on us! We are the only ones who can be their heroes and bring hope!**

Papyrus had stopped struggling against you soon after your rush of anger, but somehow his own cliched and hopeful words were restoring his vigor. Very soon he started wriggling again, filled with the need to uphold his word no matter the consequences.

"No!" You growled aloud as you forced yourself back into the dirt again. _Papyrus, you know this isn't right! I might not know what the heck El-Vee or EXP is, but I felt it when you realised we'd have to KILL humans and use their Souls to break the Barrier. Look, I- I really did want to break that thing. I thought that it would be selfish if I didn't try… but at the same time I didn't want to promise anything. I mean, of course breaking an ancient magical barrier wouldn't be easy! If it was, it would have been broken already!_

You sighed deeply as you lay your head on the hard rocks, barely feeling their texture through the bone of your cheek. _But for some reason I also thought... Well, I knew that Souls could break or pass through the Barrier, Toriel told me so once. But I still had this weird feeling that maybe they could be used without anyone dying…? I don't know how that would even work… I guess I was trying to be positive just in case it wasn't completely impossible. But now, with the way Sans explained everything, I'm not so sure anymore. We can't- ugh… We can't kill people for their Souls, Papyrus. It's just wrong..._

 **I agree completely!** Papyrus nodded fervently as soon as you finished, seemingly all the more encouraged by your uncertainty rather than sobered by it, **I would never, ever,** _ **ever**_ **break the Barrier if it meant hurting people! That is why we will find a different way to succeed without doing anything un-heroic like that! I believe that your feeling might not just be a feeling, because I feel it too! And two people feeling the same thing can't be wrong! Then, when we finally break the Barrier, everyone will be so amazed by our seemingly impossible feat there will be no excuses left for anger or doubt!**

 _Papyrus…!_ You grit your teeth in frustration at the skeleton's easy dismissal of your moral confliction. Sometimes talking to him seemed like talking to a brick wall. A big, positive, enthusiastic slab of wall.

 _We can't know for sure that there's another way around this!_ You huffed angrily, _Maybe it would have been easier if we looked at the Barrier in secret or something, but now there'll definitely be a constant crowd of excited monsters back in there! Sans seemed certain that there was no other way to break the Barrier other than killing humans, so it must be common knowledge or something. Even if we try to search for another way around this, no one is going to help us anymore! All the monsters will probably just get mad at us for wasting time and keep telling us to go kill people, and I can't even BEGIN to think of what might happen if we tried to ask other humans to help._

Unfortunately, Papyrus, who was seemingly immune to your distressed reasoning, simply shook his head in disagreement, **I'm sorry, human friend, but I don't believe that! Surely things will still work out, even if we have to do it all by ourselves! You musn't forget: No matter what, there is** _ **always**_ **another way! After all, we can't possibly know that the things we don't know aren't true unless we actually go forth and start knowing them, you know?**

You blinked in confusion, because _no_ , you didn't _know_. You didn't know _anything_. Your current situation was one full of so many unknowns that your mind was practically buzzing with all the ways that things could possibly go wrong. Why couldn't Papyrus understand your position? You felt paranoid, anxious, hesitant, and frankly just a little bit scared. You'd had almost no control over your situation from the moment that you got trapped in the skeleton's head, let alone any knowledge of anything that was happening to you at any given time! And that combined with the recent extreme turn of events had really worn down on your nerves. You just wanted everything to _stop_ for a bit...

 **Hmm… I can sense that you are still reluctant,** Papyrus hummed thoughtfully as he prodded at the tight ball of anxiety and exasperation you had morphed yourself into, **I suppose I must prove myself to you too then! Don't worry, friend! You can just sit back while I do all the work! Then, when I have finally broken the Barrier peacefully, you too will have your hopes restored!**

Before you could think to stop him, Papyrus was up on his feet again and dashing down the mountainside. You immediately panicked as he began to launch you both over high ledges and weave speedily through the forested cliffs, continuously screaming for him to stop, _stop! Papyrus, what the HELL ARE YOU DOING!?_

"It's alright, friend!" he yelled aloud as you felt yourself practically fly over the underbrush, the ends of Papyrus' absurdly long scarf flaring out like wings behind you, "I will solve the matter at hand with speed so great that you won't have the time to feel uncomfortable!"

You mentally flailed about as you tried to wrest control back from the skeleton again, but the strength of his confidence far outweighed your own. In fact, all of his emotions were basically ten times stronger than yours, giving him complete control to sprint aimlessly. But you couldn't just give up! If you let Papyrus rush down the mountain with no real plan, then something terrible could happen! It had never been your intention to meet up with anyone on the surface while you were stuck looking like the Jolly Reaper. You would have prefered to investigate the Barrier quietly instead of bolting _away_ from it at top speed. What if you encountered more humans like you? Having a giant skeleton suddenly burst out of the forest and into the streets demanding Souls seemed like a recipe for disaster. You had to stop him, even if the skeleton seemed way stronger than you! You couldn't just cower or withdraw like how you'd screwed up dealing with his brother, you had to _act_! You couldn't let your emotions get in the way agai-

Papyrus let out a loud squeal of surprise as you suddenly plummeted back to the earth, skidding and bouncing along the ground from the absurd momentum he'd built. You forcefully closed your eyes as the two of you rolled over plants and rocks alike. After enduring several bumps and scrapes, you finally came to a rough halt, slamming into the thick trunk of one of the forest's many trees. Both of you lay still for a moment, so rattled by the fall that neither of you could gather your thoughts for a moment.

Eventually, Papyrus made to get up, only to find that not only were you holding him down like before, but now he had no control over his body whatsoever. Guilt hit you at the same time claustrophobia hit Papyrus. You didn't want to do this. You never wanted to take complete control over Papyrus' body and lock him down, just as you had sensed you could from the very beginning.

… But at the same time you couldn't just let him run the both of you head-first into danger. What you were doing was logical. You were keeping the both of you safe by subduing his rash behaviour until you had a better option.

Slowly, the guilt began to fade as it was replaced by an overwhelming numbness. Papyrus couldn't be allowed to move. That was what you had decided. You couldn't allow him to continue to be so brash. You would hold him down forever if you had to, despite a sudden itch within you screaming that what you were doing was far too extreme.

Distantly you thought you could hear Papyrus yelling for you. His thoughts seemed far away, as if he was trying to speak to you through a concrete wall. For a moment you considered not listening to him and simply remaining stagnant. But the itch inside of you was increasing, warring with your decision to remain determined against the skeleton's foolish wants.

Just to satiate the only feeling still writhing around inside of you, you reached for Papyrus' thoughts, lending an apathetic ear to his calls.

 _H-human!_ He yelled faintly at you, his voice filled with fear, panic, and an odd amount of concern, _Stop! You have to stop! Your Soul is hurting!_

You didn't understand what the skeleton meant, but you did know that you wouldn't let him go. As long as he was set on running down the mountain with little to no concern for his safety, you would keep him pinned. Not even the painful itching would stop you from doing what you had decided. You had listened to him too many times, swayed by sympathy and a reluctance to push back too hard, and look at what had happened: you were talked out of seeking help from Toriel, threatened by his brother, and ultimately tricked into agreeing to become a murder by trying to investigate the Barrier. But you wouldn't give in this time. Papyrus' ignorance had to be stopped somehow, even if that decision caused your chest to feel heavy and your back to crawl.

 _I-I promise I won't move if you let me go!_ the terrified skeleton called desperately, and you could feel him stop trying to push back at you, demonstrating his co-operation, _Anything so long as you stop what you are doing! It's bad for you! Please! You're disappearing even more than before!_

You considered the offer. A promise, hmm? Well, Papyrus _was_ big on his promises if recent events had taught you anything. But could you trust him to keep it? Or would he just continue running with reckless abandon? You couldn't decide what to do over the pain that was clawing inside of you.

 _I promise! I promise!_ Papyrus screeched in complete panic as you seized painfully, _Please stop hurting! You'll break if you don't stop!_

You considered his words as a high-pitched tone began to ring in your head. As your eyesight began to flicker out, you wondered if you should take up Papyrus' offer. The pain was unbearable… but was it really more important than keeping the troublesome skeleton pinned? Then again, you could feel he meant what he said. The skeleton's word was important to him. Perhaps you should release your hold over him after all? It was just so difficult to think over all the static invading your mind.

Your thoughts began to fade…

Your vision flickered out completely...

…

Numbness.

Twisting.

Breaking.

And then…

…

Everything returned all at once.

You couldn't help but to scream in pain as your senses flicked back in full force. Sight, sound, touch, and smell all overwhelmed you to a point of agony. The world faded in and out as you scrambled about amongst the dirt and leaves, desperately trying to ground yourself as you shuddered from the intense sensations. It felt like your mind was being broken into pieces and forced back together again, almost harshly enough to render you completely unconscious. The pain was just as bad (if not _worse_ ) than the cauterization of your leg, mostly because you couldn't directly pinpoint the source of your agony. It seemed like it emanated from everywhere at once, curling through your mind, body and Soul in a wave of excruciating agony. Somewhere in your head you heard Papyrus' voice freaking out, asking if you were okay, if you were really back, if you needed help...

It was impossible to do anything while the painful haze was filling your mind, but one terrifying thought managed to slip through the fog. You… You'd done it again. For the second time in only a few minutes, you had managed to become emotionless _all by yourself_.

When you were in the golden hall with Sans, you had accidentally managed to isolate yourself, probably by trying to give the two brothers some space. Since you couldn't distance yourself physically, you had done so mentally and emotionally, which turned out to be a huge mistake. Though for some reason it had also made you dead set on seeing their conversation continue. Their interactions seemed to soothe you despite the fact you held no interest in what they were actually talking about. But then Burgerpants had interrupted and suddenly you were… well, not angered, but more heavily inconvenienced.

Just now you had done the same thing; you triggered the disappearance of your emotions and suddenly took a disturbingly strong interest in making sure something happened. Though instead of it being two brother's talking, _this_ time you had been fixated on keeping Papyrus restrained against his will on the side of a mountain.

Good lord… To think you had just been scolding him for _his_ mistakes...

 **Human friend, can you hear me again?** Papyrus' voice returned, once again touting its booming volume as you shivered and gasped in pain. However, despite your weak and shocked state, you managed to respond with a weak _Yes._

 **Oh thank goodness! I was so scared for you!** Papyrus sniffled. You felt tears rolling down your face and you honestly couldn't tell if they were the yours or his.

 _Wh-what happened? What was that?_ You asked shakily as you curled in on yourself, trying to even out your breathing.

 **I'm not really sure, but your Soul started to revolt against itself!**

You were about to ask what that meant, but another wave of pain rolled over you before you could even finish the thought. You heard Papyrus' bones rattle as you shook violently, but the skeleton himself didn't flinch or emit any feelings of discomfort. Somehow, even though it was borderline unbearable to you, the pain rolling through your body didn't seem to affect Papyrus in any way.

 **Oh no! Whatever you just did must have upset your Soul greatly!** Papyrus hissed in sympathy as you groaned. **Please, human, never do it again! I don't want to see you hurt yourself like that! You don't deserve to be in pain! You're my friend after all! And that makes you very great!**

As the concerned skeleton continued to fret over you and shower you in positive words, you eventually calmed down. When the last of your shudders had stilled, you breathed a shaky sigh of relief.

 _I- I have no idea what just happened…_ you admitted quietly, your whole body lying limp as you blinked slowly.

 **I think you went against your Attribute! I've never seen someone revolt against themselves like that! Oh my goodness, just thinking about it hurts! It was a good thing you had someone as great as me around to talk you through it!**

 _What…?_ You frowned lightly at Papyrus' odd diagnosis. What the heck was he talking about? What attribute? You could have sworn he'd said your Soul was the problem a moment ago.

 **An Attribute is the type of magic that makes up most of your Soul!** Papyrus clarified, his words aiming to calm and distract you from your sudden fit. **There are lots of Attributes in all kinds of colours, and all of them have cool names! But if you do things that go against your Attribute, it can hurt your Soul! Normally if someone even thinks about going against their Attribute, they would just get bad feeling creeping down their back! That's how you know you're about to do something you shouldn't! But wowie, your reaction was way stronger than just an uncomfortable feeling! Your Soul completely flipped like a pancake! You could have been seriously hurt! This is exactly why it's important to be true to yourself, like I am!**

You winced as you let the words sink in. Attributes, huh? Whatever they were they sounded a lot like morals or virtues. You had thought the constant sense preventing you from taking complete control of Papyrus' body had been some vague part of your emotional self shining through your apathy, but if you were understanding the skeleton correctly, then that feeling was _actually_ a part of your Soul. But you had still gone against that feeling to stop Papyrus from charging head-first into trouble, which had made sense at the time. How else could you have stopped him? He was just so naively positive all the time that it was going to get you both hurt! Nothing you said or warned him about seemed to click with the cheerful monster, allowing him to guiltlessly rush forward regardless of how you felt about it. Obviously you'd had _no choice_ but to stop him!

...

But controlling Papyrus against his will had disturbed your very Soul… You couldn't do that again if you wanted to avoid tearing yourself apart...

But then _again_ , that wasn't very fair! What was the point of being able to control the skeleton's body if you couldn't at least use it to save his life? You hadn't done anything wrong!

… No. That wasn't true. Trapping the skeleton in his own body was too extreme an action, not to mention disturbing…

...

Oh. Oh jeez. What did you just _do_ to the poor guy?

 _Oh my god… P-Papyrus, I'm so sorry…_

You squeezed your eyes closed as you felt regret flood you. You couldn't believe that you had done something so… so _creepy_. To think that you had overtaken the skeleton's body against his will, forcing him to remained pinned to the ground on the side of a god damned _mountain_ , somewhere where no one could possibly find or help him. What if the pain had increased to a point where it could have killed you? Would he have remained trapped on the mountainside forever, unable to even scream for help? Or maybe he would have died as well? Perhaps with your Soul broken, he might have even returned to his original form. If that happened… well, to be honest you didn't doubt that he would run towards the seaside city in a panic rather than going home. That probably would have ended badly.

Your thoughts raced through your head, conjuring up hundreds of terrifying possibilities against your will. Oh god, he must have been so scared...

 **Actually, the only person I was scared for was** _ **you**_ **!** Papyrus' surprisingly undisturbed voice interrupted your chaotic mind, **I would have been really sad if your Soul ended up getting hurt like your body did! It would be really hard for us to put you back together if** _ **that**_ **happened!**

A moment of silence passed as you both calmed down. You were grateful that Papyrus was so eager to forgive you, but it still didn't ease your fears. Perhaps Sans was right to act so hostile toward you, even if it was mostly based in misunderstanding. Emotionless you was a scary you; someone who didn't care about the feelings of other people and acted in eerie or forceful ways. And now you were discovering that they were so forceful and uncaring that even _your_ _own_ _Soul_ couldn't handle them. In fact, you felt so revolted at yourself that you even remembered to feel bad for Burgerpants, who'd burst into tears back in the Underground. Ugh, you were such a terrible person for feeling _nothing_ when you first saw that. Poor guy… If only you hadn't been so apathetic at the time you could have cheered him up, or at least made up a lie to convince him that your corpse wasn't what he thought it was...

Wait a minute.

 _Papyrus…_ _Where IS my body?_

…

 **OH MY GOD I DROPPED YOUR BODY I AM SO SORRY!**

You sighed in exasperation as Papyrus began to freak out. You had honestly hit critical mass for 'Things That Could Possibly Go Wrong In A Single Day'. While you didn't hold much hope for reviving your cold corpse, you still wanted it around until you could finally decide what to do with it. It would be weird to bury your own body, but you were beginning to get the urge to just do it, especially now that you were outside again and you had no idea when it would start to rot. Then again, maybe you should hold off, just on the off chance that some miracle occurred and you found a way to revive it.

 _Do you remember the last time we had it?_ you asked with a tired sigh.

 **I definitely picked it up when we were in the hall!** Papyrus responded, his thoughts straining as he focussed his full effort into remembering just where you had dropped the damned thing, **Oh! And we were still holding it when you did that Super Cool Amazing Magic Attack! I didn't think you would pick up magic so quickly after you said that humans were not capable of it! Surely this must have been the result of having a great and handsome teacher instructing you! Nyeh heh heh!**

 _Ha… right… It was very coo-terrifying. I-I mean, um- it was grea-t-errifying. Uh..._

As much as you wanted to, you could not lie about how unnerving your use of magic had been for you. What if you had decided to attack a monster instead of a thrown pebble? In the light of these new fears you were simply too stressed to completely disguise your thoughts.

Thankfully (or not, considering it was a continuing problem), the skeleton's naivety knew no bounds.

 **Indeed! It was** _ **terrifyingly**_ **good! I couldn't have said it better myself! Well, not unless you gave me a few seconds and a dictionary! But still, well said, friend!**

 _Thanks…_ you sighed, not wanting to focus too deeply on how you'd even managed to use magic in the first place. It certainly hadn't been by using all of that 'passion' Papyrus had gone on about. As far as you knew, you had just _reacted_ somehow, which was kind of scary. You didn't want your weird, emotionless self to suddenly start 'reacting' to things by attacking them with unknown magic.

Jeez, you had so many problems on your hands now that it felt like you were drowning in them… But what else was there to do? Curl into a ball and have another panic attack? That wouldn't help you any…

In a situation like yours, it was best to just pick one task off the pile and slowly work from there. Maybe if you just got up and searched for your body instead of wallowing in dread and self pity, you could gain some perspective on your situation.

You hummed thoughtfully as you stood up and brushed the leaves off your shoulders, straining to remember just when and where your corpse could have slipped from your grasp.

 _So if we had it in the hall…_ _And now we don't…_

 **Then we must have dropped it outside!** Papyrus finished triumphantly. **Oh! Oh! I know! We must have left it by the Barrier when we fell over!**

 _Makes sense,_ you sighed as you stared back up the mountain. You could still make out the outline of the platform-like outcropping you had first emerged from, silhouetted against the night sky. Jeez, for such a skinny skeleton, Papyrus sure could move when he wanted to. You had quite the hike in front of you thanks to his excited dash. But knowing that you were heading back in the direction of the Barrier was also pretty relieving. It meant that you would have more time to think about your next move, as well as get a look at what the Barrier was like from the outside.

Slowly, and on slightly unsteady feat, you began your ascent back up the side of Mount Ebott. Every time a twig snapped beneath your boots the nearby crickets and birds would silence themselves for a moment before resuming their calls. You couldn't help but feel a bit of familiarity from your surroundings, considering that you had been climbing the same mountain from a different angle just over a month ago. It was kind of pleasant walking through the forest under the starlit sky after so long, but one thing was for certain; if everything went quiet and you heard a kid calling for help, you were getting the hell outta there, no questions asked.

 **Um, human?** Papyrus asked as you trudged along, **Do you mind looking up? I would really like to see the sky thing properly!**

 _Huh? You can look up whenever you want, you don't have to ask…_

You were confused as to why Papyrus would suddenly think he had to ask for permission. He hadn't ever asked before, and he shouldn't ever think to considering it was _his_ body you were talking about.

 **Well, I promised you that I wouldn't move! And the Great Papyrus always takes his promises seriously! So I can't really look up at the sky right now unless** _ **you**_ **do!**

 _Oh… Oh no, Papyrus that's not what I-!_

You groaned as you cupped your face- uh, Papyrus' skull- in your- his- hands. Of course would take that stupid promise seriously! Emotionless or not, you felt like such a turd for practically blackmailing the poor skeleton with his own body.

 _Papyrus, I'm really sorry about that,_ you thought regretfully, _You don't have to take that whole 'not moving' thing seriously. I wasn't thinking straight before, but it's okay now! Really!_

 **Hmm…** Papyrus hummed thoughtfully, and your fingers- Papyrus' fingers- itched to tap at your chin. **Maybe you're right. But I think I will let you do all the moving for now! It would be very bad if your Soul started hurting again! Besides, you stopped blinking even though I told you it was okay! So I think this would make things even!**

You felt a little embarrassed at the accusation. You _had_ stopped blinking after Hotland, where Papyrus was jumping in fright every time you did it without warning. It just felt a little bit weird that controlling someone else's body had become so easy to you, as though it were your own. Still, if you were being given the controls for a while, you wouldn't object. It certainly helped to calm your nerves knowing that Papyrus wouldn't start sprinting away as long as you held the reins.

 **Oh, but I would still really like to look up at the sky, please!**

 _Oh! Right, of course._

You stood still and tilted your head back, looking through the treetops up into the pitch black space above you. Random scatterings of tiny light filled the darkness, glittering silently far above your head. It wasn't the most impressive night sky you'd ever seen, but it was more than a ceiling full of rocks. Being able to see the stars again made your mind clear a little.

For a whole month you had been living Underground, but it was only once you were able to look up at the vast expanse of space above you that you realised just how enclosed you had been. You wondered why you hadn't felt more trapped down there. Toriel had made it clear that there was no way out unless you met some pretty specific requirements. And yet the only time you had actually felt trapped was when you had wrongly worried that the monster's hospitality might have been a ruse. Maybe you had just felt too welcomed there for it to hit you properly?

Papyrus, on the other hand, was almost overwhelmed by his first view of the sky. It seemed that he was looking at it, but not really understanding. You could hear a hint of his thoughts as he caught glimpses of the milky way, thoughts that seemed to repeat the words 'pretty' and 'Sans would like this'. It took a while for him to snap out of his trance long enough to make his thoughts clear to you again.

 **Wow! I can't believe how high the ceiling is up here!**

You couldn't help the lopsided smile that wound its way onto your face at the words. It was a very Papyrus thing to say, but at the same time you felt sorry that the skeleton couldn't understand the concept of a place that wasn't completely enclosed.

 _It's not a ceiling,_ you explained, _it's just the sky. Out there is a whole bunch of empty space filled with stars and planets and suns, all so far away that they look like tiny dots from here._

… **Wait, I'm not sure I've heard of these 'sun' things,** Papyrus mentally frowned as he stared upwards, **Or maybe I have? I'm not actually sure!**

 _Well, a sun is just another name for a star, I guess,_ you shrugged. _The only star that really gets called a sun all the time is our sun. It should appear in the sky later. I'm not sure how long that would take though, since I have no idea what time it is…_

 **Oh? So it's just another kind of star? It must be special then if it has it's own name! Gasp! Look! On the ground in the corner! There are stars on the ground as well! Are those 'fallen stars'!?**

 _Huh? Oh, I get it…_ you hummed as you looked through the foliage and across the mountain, _Those aren't fallen stars, they're reflections. I guess there must be a few lakes around._

 **A lake! On the surface!?** Papyrus gasped, and you felt the tickling sensation of awed magic in your eye sockets.

 _Do you want to look at it?_ You asked. Honestly, you were getting off track, but the excited squeal you received in response solidified your decision. Your body probably wasn't going anywhere, and if you were going to be a downer about it you would have to say that you wouldn't have been able to do much about it anyway…

The lake was beautiful and calm, only the slightest of wind ripples disturbing the surface. Papyrus knew what lakes looked like; there was a huge water system running through the entire length if the Underground, and Waterfall was about 95% water. However, the main waterway did not reflect stars and Waterfall was too dark to see much. Lit up by the stars and a pale moon, the lake you found yourself kneeling by seemed to have so much more going on in comparison.

As you decided to stand among the reeds and stare out over the lake's (on closer inspection it was more like a large pond) mirror-like surface, you felt your nerves calm slightly. Looking down at the water's edge, you spotted your reflection- or what _should_ have been your reflection. Staring back at you was an extremely tall skeleton clothed in red. It wasn't quite Papyrus, but it definitely wasn't you…

 _Is that what we look like?_ You found yourself asking as you knelt down for a closer look.

 **Of course! I think?** Papyrus responded not so surely, **We did look into my old home's window back in Snowdin! I don't think anything's changed since then!**

Still, you couldn't help but feel that you were looking at things with fresh eyes. You had been emotionless in Snowdin, meaning that while you had seen you face you hadn't gone out of your way to care about or inspect it. And now you had the closest thing to a mirror you had stumbled across so far. A small peek wouldn't hurt, would it?

From a rough estimate you guessed that you would be only slightly taller than Toriel, whereas normally Papyrus had been eye level with her chin. A single pink light shone out of your left socket, no longer flickering rapidly as you had seen in the window. The sharpened fangs and lines carved from Papyrus' eye sockets to his mouth across his cheeks were still present, changing his features just enough that he was sitting on the line of recognizable.

Aside from that the body you shared hadn't gone through many more physical changes… but somehow your clothes had. Originally when you woke up in Papyrus' body it had been the changes in his clothes that made you doubt it was him. The hero costume that he had chosen to wear while making you solve puzzles was still visible, though altered. Each finger on what used to me oven mitts was defined, becoming well-fitting gloves made of a much coarser material. Padded black stripes patterned the surface like straps, a design which was repeated on the sturdy boots. The chestplate which you had once thought to be similar to paper mache (only water resistant) had somehow morphed into actual metal. You were sure that alchemists would have a breakdown over it, but the strong, gold-lined armour was definitely real. It even had slightly new attachments in the form of thick shoulder pads which matched the deep blue of the tiny metal Superman pants Papyrus wore as a part of his costume. You had no idea why the skeleton's clothes of all things had been so affected after absorbing your Soul.

The biggest piece of cloth which seemed to have materialised from nowhere was the black, semi-transparent cloth that seemed to cover everything from your neck down. It wasn't exactly tight (bone tight?), but it did fit snugly over every length of exposed bone, almost feeling like an odd layer of skin. The only part that wasn't completely form fitting was a large section of the material which was stretched straight down from torso to hips to give the appearance of a stomach. If you squinted you could see Papyrus' spine through the fabric, almost absurdly thin compared to the amount of space around it.

 **Wowie! Look at us! We look so much cooler when we can see ourselves properly!** Papyrus laughed and for a brief moment a white light in your right socket lit up.

You weren't sure if the look was all that cool yourself. Sure, the clothes were a step up from a worn superhero costume, but now all you could think was that you looked the part of a hardcore thief or rogue cosplayer. The absurdly long and tattered tails of Papyrus' red cape/scarf only solidified that, and the mid-length of the same material that hung over your head like a cowl fully suited for fantasy espionage was the final nail in the coffin.

 _Hey, Papyrus,_ you asked as you tugged at the edge of the hood to stare more clearly at your skull, _Aren't you bothered by this? This is… it's your body. Your body has mutated because of me. Doesn't that make you a bit uncomfortable?_

 **Nope!** Came the cheery response accompanied by the same white flicker in your reflection's eye, **I look so cool! Like a real hero! And even though neither of us mean for it to happen, that doesn't make it less great!**

You sighed as you stood again. Welp, if Papyrus wasn't bothered about it then you would just have to push your own weird discomfort aside. There were too many things you already disagreed on and you weren't willing to add such minor things onto that list. It would only end up a waste of effort and wasn't worth getting up in arms about anyway.

It was only as you stood and readied yourself to get back on track that you noticed something else... in the water… caught among the shallow reeds…

Once again your luck seemed to be taking a huge dive... because for the second time in one day you found yourself looking down at the corpse of a complete stranger.

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paranoidpantherspatterns. tumblr (dot com)/post/157092971872/pictures-of-papyrus-for-my-fic-temperance-which

(remove spaces and write . com for cool thing) FFnet is weird.


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